Oh My God! [English is So Hard!]

Today, I've been reading an article about how to develop writing skills in children. According to a British Journal, English-speaking kids require a longer time to learn how to read and to write than the other kids whose languages use an alphabet.* Besides that, 1 in 5 of all English speakers has serious difficulties when reading. This eye-opening data is due to the incredible complexity of the English language system, given that one single sound can be written in many ways, such as the long “i” sound which is read the same in people, lead, leap, Pete, etc. Also, many sounds can be represented by the same letters, with one of the best example being the pair of vowels (or diphthong) "ea" which can express different sounds as in the words break, read (in past participle form), leap, etc. From the point of view of a Spanish native speaker, this written system might seem chaotic (well, at least to me it truly seems so!), this is mostly due to the fact that, in Spanish, the correlation between a letter and the way it is pronounced is much simpler, much clearer, than it is in English.

Hi Jose. Good job! Whatever changes that I’ve made were merely done to allow your sentences to sound more natural to my native ears. I hope that this helps you. J.

*Hmmm ... the last time that I checked, English still uses an alphabet! (*_^) Similarly, when a vowel sound is pronounced, like its name, this is called a “long sound,” so your examples are off. They are more the “e” sound. The long “i” sound would be the words like pie, die, fly, cry, bye, etc. [Per the Vowel Team Rule (Long vowel) – When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, so the first vowel says its name and the second vowel is silent]

As to the “ea” sounds, it is either a long “e” sound per the VTR above [words ending in –each, -ead, -eak, -eam, -ean, or -eat] or a short “e” sound [words ending in –ead, -ealth, -ear, etc.] While I agree that learning these differences is not easy for ESL students, it is not impossible with diligent study, practice and memorization. You also need to realize that English is still growing and evolving, as well as the fact that it has “borrowed” and “invented” words from other languages or to adapt with technology.

Sadly, there is no set way of expressing oneself in English--the limits are only the depth and the breadth of your vocabulary. Maybe this is the basis of your difficulties? I have always felt that Spanish and English are very similar, often just a difference in accent over the same recognizable word a la “attention” [English] and “attencion” [Spanish], or if entirely unknown, memorization of what translates into what, yet, saying the words phonetically a la “My house is ....” and “Mi casa es ....”

Finally, the “1” in your “1 in 5 …” sentence is your subject, which is singular, so it needs “has,” not “have.” Similarly, the word “data” which is actually plural in form, but singular or plural in construction, yet, both are standard. Given that the “house style” of several publishers requires it, the plural construction is found more often in print, but within my own writing, and within my corrections, I prefer it singular. Apologies for the length of this, but I wanted to address everything that I saw within your post.