Re: New to the list (acquisition)

Basilius wrote:

>Also, strikingly much concern about scripts and phonology...
>
>Long ago I tried to assess the complexity of morphology for some langs.
>Funnily, my estimates showed that French is more difficult than Latin.
>Still more funny, that corresponded to what I *felt*. I think I can
>recall how I came to that result, if anybody is interested.
Ah. I'm interested! I've studied French for 5 years and Latin for 1, and
though I haven't *felt* French to be _more_ difficult than Latin, I'd say
I've felt it to be close in difficulty. In fact, I didn't really start to
understand French grammar until I started doing Spanish; the Spanish grammar
is more clear (especially phonologically, at least to an Icelandic-speaker),
and comparing the endings and morphological mechanisms of both languages let
me learn Spanish quickly _and_ greatly enhance my understanding of French
verbal endings. So if any linguistically inclined person is slaving in the
school system trying to learn French properly, that person should, IMO, take
a brief look at Spanish (or Italian perhaps)...comparative studying can be
very useful.

Oskar
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