Why is it hard for English speakers to learn French?

The French language tends to be difficult to pronounce at first because there are simply sounds that native English speakers aren’t used to making. To begin with, French is more evenly stressed. This means that while some parts of a word are stressed, it’s not as distinct as in English.

How do people mock English speakers?

Also, when making fun of English, people exaggerate the way English speakers pronounce vowels because in Spanish each vowel only has one sound, while in English vowels sound like diphthongs. Another thing we do when mocking English is to pronounce D’s and T’s really strongly and with a lot of stress on them.

How is French different from English?

The French and English languages are related in a sense, because French is a Romance language descended from Latin with German and English influences, while English is a Germanic language with Latin and French influences.

Should English speakers learn another language?

If you already speak English, you would almost be able to speak to half the world’s population! While English has become the lingua franca of the world, learning a foreign language (or two) increases opportunities for connection and opens to the door to the many benefits of bilingualism.

Is it easier for Chinese speakers to learn another Chinese language?

But, because they share a common history and a good deal of common vocabulary and grammar, it is much easier for a speaker of one Chinese language to learn another Chinese language than for a complete outsider to do so. Again, this is true of the Romance languages as well.

Why do some French words sound different in different languages?

A French speaker may fail to notice subtle sounds and inflections that are meaningful and significant to, say, a German speaker, and therefore a native French speaker and German speaker may end up producing completely different results when making up “Italian” sounding words.

Are Chinese dialects real languages?

Again, this is true of the Romance languages as well. The Chinese languages referred to here are the famous Chinese “dialects”: Cantonese, Shanghai, Fukienese, etc. Because speakers of one of these “dialects” cannot understand speakers of another of them, the “dialects” are as much real languages as are the Romance languages.

Can a non-French-speaking Japanese speaker speak French gibberish?

A non-French-speaking Japanese speaker and English speaker may perceive and process French and produce “French” gibberish in entirely different ways. Examples, especially in comedy, would be appreciated.