When I taught Spanish, some students would complain that it was too complicated, too hard. To be sure, there are some facets of it that are difficult, at first. For example, ser y estar can be a little perplexing, por y para are perplexing and the a personal just makes no sense at times. I would counter that Spanish is much easier to pronounce, even though the comeback from the students would be, How can you tell? They all talk so darned fast! True, dat.
Even so, English isn't exactly easy. Sure, conjugation of verbs is pretty simple compared to Spanish: I eat, you eat, he/she/it eats, we eat, they eat. Wow, one variation. But try being a foreigner unfamiliar with Spanish and confronting our pronunciations. Why, for example, is one word tough but the other though, even though they're virtually spelled the same? Then there's their, there and they're which, it should be pointed out, even Americans can't understand (not to mention hear and here -- There hear!).
The debate can go on. There are some languages, like Irish and Chinese, that can be downright frustrating. Others, like English and Spanish, are comparatively easier. But no language, even Esperanto, is a piece of cake.
But back to English. Whenever I was confronted with a particularly intransigent student, I would pull this one out:
Take the verb to get. In the infinitive, it means to obtain, generally speaking. But start adding prepositions or other verbal forms at the end of it and see what you come up with:
Get by
Get around
Get through
Get over
Get with
Get to
Get up
Get down
Get between
Get on
Get under
Get about
Get across
Get at
Get away
Get into
Get off
Get together
Get it
Get nowhere
Get back at
Get cracking
Get wind of
Get out
And the list goes on.
Think about that the next time someone complains about how hard a foreign language is to learn.
(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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