Odd Languages Out: Hungarian and Finnish

The two languages scaring expats the most are 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Hungarian and Finnish. Between 50% and 60% of expats consider them extremely difficult to learn.

No wonder: These languages are among the 카지노 게임 컬렉션�odd ones out카지노 게임 컬렉션� across Europe. Neither Hungarian nor Finnish is an Indo-European language. Linguistically, they have less in common with English than, for example, Russian or Hindi do.

Finnish and Hungarian are traditionally grouped together in the Finno-Ugric subdivision of the Uralic languages; they have probably originated in Western Siberia, near the Ural Mountains.

However, speaking Hungarian won카지노 게임 컬렉션�t help you much in Finland, or vice versa. Unlike, for instance, Spanish and Portuguese, which are very closely related, Hungarian and Finnish are very distant cousins. 

Talo, Talon, Talolla, Talolta, Ta-what?

Finnish and Hungarian share several features that make them so complicated. English speakers will be happy to hear that both languages have no grammatical gender. Compare that to German, where a table is masculine, a lamp is feminine, and a sofa is neutral! Nonetheless, studying Hungarian or Finnish makes German look like child카지노 게임 컬렉션�s play. 

Cases are grammatical categories to describe the function of certain words 카지노 게임 컬렉션� especially nouns 카지노 게임 컬렉션� within a sentence. English only uses the genitive case (카지노 게임 컬렉션�Jane카지노 게임 컬렉션�s book카지노 게임 컬렉션�) to show to whom something belongs. German has four of these pesky categories, and they drive some language students crazy.

Guess how many noun cases Hungarian or Finnish has? If you think 카지노 게임 컬렉션�a dozen카지노 게임 컬렉션�, you카지노 게임 컬렉션�re close. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 15 and 18, respectively.

In English, a lot of them would just involve a preposition instead of noun endings. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�House카지노 게임 컬렉션� is 카지노 게임 컬렉션�talo카지노 게임 컬렉션� in Finnish and 카지노 게임 컬렉션�ház카지노 게임 컬렉션� in Hungarian; but if you say 카지노 게임 컬렉션�from the house카지노 게임 컬렉션� (e.g. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�I walked away from the house카지노 게임 컬렉션�), these words turn into 카지노 게임 컬렉션�háztol카지노 게임 컬렉션� and 카지노 게임 컬렉션�talolta카지노 게임 컬렉션�. Well, there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s only 17 more endings to remember 카지노 게임 컬렉션� including when to use which! 

Don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t Be Rude 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Or Don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t Talk Bookish!?

Both languages also have different ways of expressing politeness or formality. Native speakers of languages like French might think 카지노 게임 컬렉션�hey, I got this!카지노 게임 컬렉션� There카지노 게임 컬렉션�s already a distinction between 카지노 게임 컬렉션�tu카지노 게임 컬렉션� (informal 카지노 게임 컬렉션�you카지노 게임 컬렉션�) and 카지노 게임 컬렉션�vous카지노 게임 컬렉션� (polite 카지노 게임 컬렉션�you카지노 게임 컬렉션�) in French. It can카지노 게임 컬렉션�t be worse, can it? Yes, it can.

In Hungarian, there are four levels of politeness and four corresponding pronouns. In the past couple of decades, the informal 카지노 게임 컬렉션�te카지노 게임 컬렉션� has become more common, probably due to the influence of English, so you may get away with that one. But if you try it on an older person in a position of authority, you might still come across as abominably rude.

Finnish has two entirely different registers: standard and spoken Finnish. They vary in terms of complexity and vocabulary, as well as pronunciation and grammar. Would you have thought that 카지노 게임 컬렉션�he menerát카지노 게임 컬렉션� and 카지노 게임 컬렉션�ne menee카지노 게임 컬렉션� are the same phrase? Me neither, but both mean 카지노 게임 컬렉션�they go카지노 게임 컬렉션�.

Standard Finnish is the slightly old-fashioned language of literature; spoken Finnish is what you hear on the streets of Helsinki. If you tried talking in formal Finnish, you카지노 게임 컬렉션�d be just accused of 카지노 게임 컬렉션�speaking bookish카지노 게임 컬렉션�. 

Not for All the Tea in China: Mandarin and Cantonese

In terms of difficulty, Chinese is the runner-up. Up to one in five people on this planet speak Chinese as their mother tongue. Unfortunately, most 온라인 카지노 게임 Insider 2017 respondents don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t. In Hong Kong, nearly one in two expats (49%) describe the local language as very complicated; in mainland China, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 46%.

In Need of a Common Tongue

Many expats use a word of Chinese origin on a regular basis. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Tea카지노 게임 컬렉션� is the most famous loan word in English. Tě was imported by Dutch traders from a dialect of Hokkien Chinese spoken on the southeastern coast. In northern Mandarin Chinese, however, the word for 카지노 게임 컬렉션�tea카지노 게임 컬렉션� is chá. You may recognize it from the Indian chai: tea came to India via the Silk Road from northern China.

This example shows that strictly speaking, there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s not one Chinese language, but all kinds of Chinese. Some linguists consider Chinese a macrolanguage with different varieties, such as Mandarin.

Mandarin Chinese includes a wide range of dialects from the wide plains of northern China. With 70% of native speakers, it is the largest dialect group by far 카지노 게임 컬렉션� including the Beijing dialect that Standard Chinese (pŭtōnghuà) is modelled on.

Pŭtōnghuà means 카지노 게임 컬렉션�common tongue카지노 게임 컬렉션�. While this sounds a bit like a phrase from your standard fantasy novel, it points out some very real difficulties of life in China. Most Chinese dialect speakers couldn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t understand one another, which makes a standardized language necessary. Pŭtōnghuà is also the variety expats learn most frequently. However, standardized doesn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t equal easy. 

Several Tones, Thousands of Characters

On the one hand, Chinese has shed many characteristics that could potentially confuse language learners. It doesn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t distinguish between singular and plural, and there are no noun cases. Verbs have neither tense (past, present, future) nor voice (active or passive). On the other hand, both spoken and written Chinese pose some major challenges.

Pronunciation relies on the tonal system: the meaning of a word will change if the tone is rising or falling, low or high. Standard Mandarin features five tones (including a neutral one), and you카지노 게임 컬렉션�d better get them right. Otherwise, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�wŏ xiăng wèn nĭ카지노 게임 컬렉션� (카지노 게임 컬렉션�I want to ask you카지노 게임 컬렉션�) might turn into 카지노 게임 컬렉션�wŏ xiăng wěn nĭ카지노 게임 컬렉션� (카지노 게임 컬렉션�I want to kiss you카지노 게임 컬렉션�), and you카지노 게임 컬렉션�ll be in trouble.

In written Chinese, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s the many characters that cause many a language student many a headache. To be considered functionally literate, you need to know a mere 2,000. Scholars can read and write 10,000 or more.

Cantonese versus Mandarin

To make matters worse for expats in Hong Kong, the former British colony is an extreme example of diglossia: most residents of mainland China speak two versions of Chinese, their local dialect and Standard Mandarin. However, since Hong Kong didn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t join the PRC until 1997, its de facto official language is still (Standard) Cantonese (Gwóngdūng wá).

Cantonese and Mandarin only have about 25% of their vocabulary in common; moreover, Cantonese features six tones whereas Standard Mandarin has five. Theoretically, you can use the same characters to write both. However, colonial Hong Kong didn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t take part in the PRC카지노 게임 컬렉션�s major language reforms. Therefore, traditional Chinese script 카지노 게임 컬렉션� instead of simplified characters 카지노 게임 컬렉션� is still widespread. 

Where Have All the Vowels Gone: Polish

Last but not least, the fifth-most difficult language brings us back to Europe. In Poland, nearly four out of five expats (78%) think the local language is not easy to learn. Why is this Slavic language considered so intimidating by many non-native speakers?

Anything but Five by Five: Polish Inflections

Firstly, Polish is a heavily inflected language. Like in Hungarian and Finnish, the endings of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and other words change according to a case system.

The function of a word in a Polish sentence mostly depends on cases rather than word order; words can sometimes move fairly freely within the sentence structure. You need to recognize the case endings to figure out the meaning.

Polish case endings differ according to various factors: the seven cases themselves, singular versus plural, and three grammatical genders. Moreover, masculine nouns can be further subdivided into personal, animate, and inanimate nouns.

Oh, nouns and adjectives have different sorts of inflections, but it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s numerals 카지노 게임 컬렉션� words for counting 카지노 게임 컬렉션� that take the cake. Not only do they have a very special declension system, but the nouns following them sometimes behave weirdly.

For example, after pięć (five), the noun it refers to needs to be in the genitive plural form. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Five cats카지노 게임 컬렉션� are literally 카지노 게임 컬렉션�five of the cats카지노 게임 컬렉션�. The resulting noun phrase, however, doesn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t count as plural. It is considered a singular form, and the verb gets adjusted accordingly.

So, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�pięć kotów siedzi na sofie카지노 게임 컬렉션� means 카지노 게임 컬렉션�five of the cats is sitting on the sofa카지노 게임 컬렉션�! Maybe Polish cats are a different species somehow카지노 게임 컬렉션�  

Hissing, Humming, Rustling: Polish Pronunciation

Secondly, once you have mastered the complex grammar, you need to pronounce the intricate sentences correctly. Imagine uttering them in a language that features 23 written consonants, but about 30 spoken consonant sounds 카지노 게임 컬렉션� including twelve variations on sh- and ch-.

Polish words may also contain massive consonant clusters. For example, a popular Polish tongue twister is 카지노 게임 컬렉션�W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie.카지노 게임 컬렉션� (카지노 게임 컬렉션�In the town of Szczebrzeszyn, a beetle buzzes in the reeds.카지노 게임 컬렉션�) I카지노 게임 컬렉션�d like to buy a vowel for 250, please!

If you feel like tackling a new language right now, how about giving a try? The world카지노 게임 컬렉션�s #1 language learning app helps you get conversational fast in over a dozen languages 카지노 게임 컬렉션� including Polish. Dużo szczęścia, yīqīè shùnlì, and good luck!