hardest language in the world

Miikka · Post by **Miikka** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:06 pm

AnaBanana wrote:It's difficul, but I wouldn't say the hardest. There are many rules on grammar but very few exceptions, and that does help a lot the student.

I would say normally one big issue for most learners is vocabulary. Unless you're estonian, the vocabulary is pretty much completely different. And without a fairly good vocabulary it's not easy to speak.. so maybe that's a reason why some students take longer time to actually speak it.

There is also the matter of spoken and written language, but I guess this may happen with every single language!

Don't start already as a pessimist! Try to see things from the bright side (like no genders, no future tense)!

Sometimes future tense should be used when you have to clarify that it happens in future. People use some future tense in every day language

**Sponsor:**

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:14 pm

<< Maybe valita and tarvita and mainita and häiritä too.
Valitsen
not Valian like in haluta - haluan

But that can also be some kind of verb type

Pelätä - Pelkään, too <<

Finnish verb types : http://www.verbix.com/languages/finnish ... oups.shtml

Miikka · Post by **Miikka** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:33 pm

Joo näyttääpi sekin olevan jonkinlainen verbityyppi... Mutta se käsittää niin kovin pienen määrän verbejä, että sitäkin voisi kutsua epäsäännölliseksi. Onhan ruotsissakin epäsäännöllisiä aikamuotojen taivutukset "dricka dricker drack druckit" sitta sitter satt suttit" ja tuolla tavalla taipuvia verbejä on paljon muitakin, joten voisihan nekin luokitella... miten sen nyt ottaa:)

masao · Post by **masao** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:38 pm

sinikala wrote:
bohica wrote:Same thing in English really, we just do it with prepositions.

From my very limited knowledge of Finnish grammar...

talolle = onto the house
talolla = on the house
talolta = from being on the house

Any native speaker care to clarify, or shoot me down in flames here?

I guess you are right. Talolla is on the house. Or rather if you are from my neighborhood, you'd say "on da house".

When you go to a bar and a bartender serves you a drink. If he says, "Talolla", then you do not have to pay a cent. You go back to your table and tell your friends that the drink is on the house (Rinkkini on talolta). Then your friend goes to the bar and tells the bartender to put his drink on the house (Pistä talolle).

Of course a bar is normally not a charity establishment. Quite often the bartender may say, instead of "Okei (OK)", some long sentence such as "Saatana älykääpiö. Turpa kii ja maksa ny" which roughly translated into English as "Sorry mate. I lose my job if you do not pay. So please pay yourself this time".

t, masao

Argan · Post by **Argan** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:14 pm

"When you go to a bar and a bartender serves you a drink. If he says, "Talolla", then you do not have to pay a cent."

I've never heard anyone saying something like that. It's "talo tarjoaa" at least here in Helsinki. Then again you don't hear those sentences too often anyway.

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:59 pm

>> When you go to a bar and a bartender serves you a drink. If he says, "Talolla", then you do not have to pay a cent." <<

These direct translations do not always work. "It´s on the house" is not "se on talolla" in Finnish.

Have you heard a bartender say "talolla"? If you have that must be a new expression.

Kukka89 · Post by **Kukka89** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:14 pm

My friend is from Finland but he actually lives in Poland. He said that Polish is the most difficult language to learn... I think the same about Finnish. I think it's depend of native language. Polish is hard but for people from Russia or Czech it can be easier - like Finnish for Estonian people. In fact Finnish is very hard, no similiar for other languages...
I want to learn it but in Poland there isn't any handbooks of Finnish or Finnish dictionaries. Language course is only in capital so I have to learn Finnish by myself. Anyway...I have big motivation.
Actually I practise my English cause it's very bad...
Sorry for change the subject.

Sol Moure · Post by **Sol Moure** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:27 am

You know Kukka89, I do exactly the same thing. I've got to study finnish by myself as here in Mexico there's no place to study it properly. But of course would be very selfish to say that I have actually learned what I know only by myself because a lot *or most of it* I've learn thanks to finns that have help me. I daresay that you can learn more *practical* finnish chating with a Finn than what you could study all day.

Anyway, I apologize too for this off-topic...

JuliaB · Post by **JuliaB** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:56 am

I spent quite a long time in a pub in Budapest with some "friendly" Hungarians, trying to put together a phrase that could be understood by both Finns and Hungarians..
The good news is..We succeeded..It was about 5 words.. and I can remember that it was something to do with Fishing ...
The bad news is it took so long and we drunk so much Hungarian wine..that I cant remember more that that...

there is an article in todays helsinki Sanomat that you all should enjoy.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/COMMEN ... 5218386774

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:36 pm

Sol Moure wrote: I've got to study finnish by myself as here in Mexico

If you search, there is "meksikosuomen" who lives in 'ciudad de mx', he atleast got my dictionary, so if you 2 can team up you might have a chance.

AussieRules · Post by **AussieRules** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:02 am

This is an interesting subject.

I don't speak any Finnish - but I speak English (native), German, French, Spanish and Russian. I teach French and German at a high school.

From my point of view Spanish is by far the easiest of those, followed by French, then German, then Russian.

German and Russian have a lot of frustrating exceptions and complex grammar, French has occasionally deceptive complexity as well... Still, once you get used to it, any given language is learnable. The trick is the right mix of grammar and conversation. You need both to get fluent.

AussieRules · Post by **AussieRules** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:03 am

This is an interesting subject.

I don't speak any Finnish - but I speak English (native), German, French, Spanish and Russian. I teach French and German at a high school.

From my point of view Spanish is by far the easiest of those, followed by French, then German, then Russian.

German and Russian have a lot of frustrating exceptions and complex grammar, French has occasionally deceptive complexity as well... Still, once you get used to it, any given language is learnable. The trick is the right mix of grammar and conversation. You need both to get fluent.

It does however depend MASSIVELY on what your own native language is. A Polish speaker would probably learn Russian a lot quicker than I did, yet have problems with English.

vampe · Post by **vampe** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:35 am

I'm starting to wonder how long it HONESTLY

took people who knew no finnish to begin with , to learn it fluently ?

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:36 am

vampe wrote:I'm starting to wonder how long it HONESTLY took people who knew no finnish to begin with , to learn it fluently ?

Anyone how does it in 5 years is doing very well IMO.

I've been here 4 years, and can hold a conversation in very broken Finnish if the other person is tolerant, which they generally are as Finns are understandibly happy to see you make an effort to break the code

If I'm somewhere close to fluent within 10 years of moving here, I'll be happy

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:51 am

Richard, don't be so modest, you're just a prodigy

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