English vs Spanish

[nocturnus33]

I hate how bad I am with English verbs conjugations. I'd just need to remember I know how to conjugate them in Spanish, maybe I'd be less intimidated by them.

Comments

[dhw]

Wow, that's a lot of conjugations in Spanish - I'm afraid, as a language, it is more or less a complete mystery to me (I learnt German, French and Latin at school). I really ought to learn some Spanish - at least the basics - as it really is a rather shameful gap in my knowledge.

[nocturnus33]

I think German has the trophy of the confusing language if you master that one, Spanish shouldn't be that difficult to you. Knowing Latin and French won't hurt you in that challenge.

[dhw]

I don't find German too bad (French was much worse), but I wonder whether or not it's because I can see the similarities between English and German. Not that there aren't any between English and French, but I just seem to be able to pick them up easier in German. Very odd.

The thing I find most confusing is gendered words. I mean, how do you know?!

[nocturnus33]

I have no idea how to explain it, it's just cultural, at least not the kind of things I have ever thing about it. In my case, I find French and Portuguese easy. I'm not fluent on them but I can make the link with Spanish and understand them pretty well.

[dhw]

That's what my friend says, too! She's Galician, and I asked her about how you can tell whether something is male or female, and she just said that you kind of know. *headdesk*

I think that's one of the strangest things for me, since English doesn't really have that, so learning that things can be male, female (and sometimes neutral) is a bit mind-bending!

[nocturnus33]

For me, the weird thing in English is the use of "it" to designated animals, from my cultural frame it's like giving them an object status. The other "weird" thing is the verb "to be" designating our "ser" (which point to the essence or identity of something or someone) and our "estar" which philosophically speaking it points more to accidental, it points out the "state" of a person or an object. So, for us being ill as a state it's different as an identity. In both cases, I know how to use them but I feel weird using it as such.

[dhw]

It's funny how many little quirks and whatnot each language has that seem strange to non-native speakers.

[nocturnus33]

It is beautiful, too. It "speaks" a lot about the way we approach the world.