What are some of the grammatical rules, semantic concepts or phonological rules that are most difficult for an English speaker to master when learning a foreign language? Please be language specific.

Answer 1

I can give you an example for each of grammar rules, semantic concepts and phonetics that someone learning Spanish will encounter and may find especially challenging.

(1) Grammar:

Use of the subjunctive tenses for verbs can be a tricky mental somersault for many students looking to master Spanish. The 'subjunctive' is a mood, with the 'indicative' being the other mood seen in Spanish grammar. Both moods are used rather evenly in Spanish, but the indicative tends to predominate in English. The basic distinction between the two is that the speaker uses the indicative when she is speaking objectively and with certainty of her facts. For example, "Pablo acaba de llegar a casa." (Pablo just got home.) Here, 'acabar' is conjugated in the indicative mood. It is a fact that Pablo arrived to his house because it just happened. In contrast, the subjunctive mood is used when the speaker wishes to convey a sense of doubt, uncertainty or subjectivity; it is used when discussing hypothetical feelings or topics -- things that are possible but not yet set in stone. For example, "Pablo me va a llamar cuando llegue a su casa." (Pablo is going to call me when he gets home.) Here, 'llegar' is conjugated in the subjunctive mood because we are not sure if Pablo will make it home or not, that's why we are awaiting his call.

(2) Semantic Concepts:

In English, we have only one 'you' when referring to a person we are talking to, and it is used alike for both formal and informal conversations. In Spanish, there are two "you's" -- "tú" is used when speaking with someone that you are familiar with or close to, and "usted" is used when showing deference to someone as in a formal introduction. For example, "Tú conoces a mi hermana?" (Have you met my sister?) Here, we are talking to a friend or someone who knows the speaker well enough to be introduced to a family member. In contrast, "Cómo se siente usted hoy?" (How do you feel today?) is something a therapist or physician might say to a patient when doing rounds; the doctor uses "usted" to show respect to the patient. This splitting of 'you' into two forms for two different sentiments can be difficult for an English speaker learning Spanish because it requires that the speaker also express the formality of his relationship with the person that he is speaking to.

(3) Phonetic Rules:

The major phonetic rule in Spanish describes which syllable is to be stressed or emphasized when pronouncing a word. For example, the first syllable in 'caravan' is stressed when pronouncing the English word. This is why dictionaries place the stress symbol ( ' ) in front of the first syllable in 'caravan' in its pronunciation guide:

'ker / e / ,van

The symbol of second stress ( , ) is on the third syllable so that the word is stressed with greatest emphasis when saying 'car-', with weakest emphasis when saying '-a-' and with the second greatest emphasis when saying '-van'.

In Spanish, the rules for how to place stress in a word are simple. First rule, the last syllable is always the one to be stressed except when the word ends in n, s or in a vowel (n, s, a, e, i, o, u). Second rule, the penultimate or second-to-last syllable is stressed when the word ends in n, s or in a vowel. Third rule, all words not abiding by the first two rules must use an accent mark over the syllable that is stressed. For example, 'ciudad' ends in a consonant that is not n or s, so the last syllable is the one that gets stressed. 'Corazón' ends in n, so the second-to-last syllable should be stressed; however, the accent mark over the last syllable indicates that this word is an exception to the first two rules, and that the last syllable is the one that is being stressed instead.

Hope this helps.