English Can Be Difficult to Learn (VOA Special English)

Many teachers and students say English can be difficult to learn. It has more words than any other language. The biggest dictionaries contain about six-hundred-thousand words. Many people who come to the United States from foreign countries have already studied English. They may have done very well. But when they arrive here, they may not understand much of what they hear or read. English learned in classrooms sometimes seems very different from everyday spoken English. Studies show that it can take several years of living in the United States while studying English for a foreign person to speak the language well.

Announcer: Mary Tillotson
Writer: Jerilyn Watson

Excerpt from: www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2003-01/a-2003-01-17-2-1.cfm

Video by: www.ManyThings.org