Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
For a language to be easier than another language, it has to be limiting in it`s expressive capabilities. You may not realize it, but in saying English is an easier language than Japanese - you are saying that English is a lesser language than Japanese. I somehow doubt that you are intending to do so.
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I don't know why you believe in this myth Nyororin, why would a language be LESS expressive if it is easier (in certain aspects)? Japanese doesn't have plurals, so is it less expressive? English doesn't use Chinese characters yet it is able to express abstract ideas. Chinese doesn't even have tenses yet it works pretty well. While most thing you say makes sense, you are totally off the mark on this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
Either way, that isn`t the issue. The number of words, and the skill required to properly use the two languages does not differ. You are using your perception, as a speaker of English, to rate another writing system badly simply because YOU find it too hard.
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Again you are totally off base. Chinese characters is harder to learn, for natives as well, you will need to put in more effort no doubt about it. Doesn't mean English is less expressive because of this fact. Chinese pronounciation is next to impossible, in fact 90% of the Chinese speakers cannot speak standard Mandarin properly even if they wanted to. Japanese pronounciation on the other hand is idiot proof. Still, doesn't make Chinese more expressive because of impossible pronounciation.
So I think you are way off on the complexity thing. You can't possibly say all languages have the same level of complexity with a straight face. Even if you are native, language complexity will affect you, just not as much as when you are learning from scratch when you are much older.