They say English is hard . . .

Recently, I read a theory that the negatives of modal verbs in English have been influenced by Celtic - one of the few ways Celtic influenced Old English.

And there's "I won't".

Mollygo

Mamie, I vaguely remember the first person singular or plural rule but since the second person singular is the same as the first person plural, so you shall go to the ball could mean just Cinderella or her sisters as well, that just adds to the confusion.
I only tend to use shall as a question, Shall I . . . but otherwise just use will or won’t.
A bit like the evolution of French. We were always taught to use Est-ce que tu veux un café? or invert the first two words Veux-tu un café and you’ll know how much they’re still used today, but my French friends tend to just say Tu veux un café? in a questioning tone.

When I did translation at university, the lecturer was a stickler for good English. There's definitely a difference between "I shall" and "I will" and we'd get a crossing out if we used the wrong one.

there is no doubt immersion is the best way to learn, yes, and interesting that your example mentions at a young age too, missdeke.
I was at school in France for a while when I was 13 and that was when my language really took off. Any older and all sorts of inhibitions seem to hold most people back.

I knew a little Turkish girl aged 6 who could converse in many languages. Her dad was Turkish and her mother was Dutch, they ran a hotel with international guests. The little girl could speak Turkish, Dutch, English, Russian, French, German and Italian, there is no doubt immersion is the best way to learn. I personally found Turkish the easiest language to learn.

Junglebub

As a teacher of the English language for many years at all levels, I know that English is an easy language for foreigners to learn informally but extremely difficult to speak and write correctly.

Just out of interest which first language do you think makes it easiest to learn English?
I had an Italian friend who was an EU translator. She said after learning the first five languages it got much easier!

As a teacher of the English language for many years at all levels, I know that English is an easy language for foreigners to learn informally but extremely difficult to speak and write correctly.

Yes I agree that tu veux un café? is much more common now. The use of "du coup" is everywhere, meaning "consequently / so /" . It is a fairly recent development that I find very annoying. 😨
It is more or less the same as "so, like, you know" in English now, a sort of linguistic filler that means nothing much at all.

Mamie, I vaguely remember the first person singular or plural rule but since the second person singular is the same as the first person plural, so you shall go to the ball could mean just Cinderella or her sisters as well, that just adds to the confusion.
I only tend to use shall as a question, Shall I . . . but otherwise just use will or won’t.
A bit like the evolution of French. We were always taught to use Est-ce que tu veux un café? or invert the first two words Veux-tu un café and you’ll know how much they’re still used today, but my French friends tend to just say Tu veux un café? in a questioning tone.

My students also told me that the equivalent of learning "la plume de ma tante est dans le bureau de mon oncle" was "my tailor is rich". 😂

My French U3A students had been taught to use shall at school, where we would normally now use will.
It is an interesting language shift over the years. Shall is now considered more formal and old-fashioned. The traditional rule is that shall is used for the first person singular and plural, but in practice it isn't always the case now, possibly confused even further by the use of I'll.

Mollygo

Allira
You shan’t drown if I’m around. I got my life saving certificate when I was a teenager.

Oh, thank you, Mollygo!
I'm relieved.

escaped

DH went off to the market early this morning as he enjoys choosing various items to cook later.
When he came back with his produce, he told me he got in a real muddle with, celui-ci, celle-ci, ceux-ci, celles-ci when he only wanted to say "this one" or "these" when buying a melon or a bunch of tomatoes.

My DH could order beer and coffee in French. For everything else he used pointing and “un or even deux comme ça” or “de ça” pointing at whatever it was, with an up or down hand movement to indicate quantity. He is very good at merci beaucoup.
It seems to work very well for him.

escaped at least your husband had a go at speaking a different language. My husband just used hand signals but he always got what he wanted . Worked in France, Switzerland,Greece and Dubai.
Greece and Dubai he went to for work.

He had a way about him with people don't know what it would be called but I told him it was because he was cheeky . Mind you he could make you believe black was white and not crack his face . 🤣

DH went off to the market early this morning as he enjoys choosing various items to cook later.
When he came back with his produce, he told me he got in a real muddle with, celui-ci, celle-ci, ceux-ci, celles-ci when he only wanted to say "this one" or "these" when buying a melon or a bunch of tomatoes.

Allira
You shan’t drown if I’m around. I got my life saving certificate when I was a teenager.

growstuff

Claremont

English is so so easy at the beginner to early intermediate stage. I teach English, French and German- and my favourite is English up to intermediate level, as it is so joyfuly sinple. The difficult part is prepositions and thos pesky mutli phrasal verbs (think about all the meanings for just one 'put down').

To teach the future tense in French takes weeks or more, but just a few minutes in English. Same for the simple past, apart from learning basic irregular verbs.

So how would you explain when to use "I didn't see" and when to say "I haven't seen"?

The future is easy in German and English ... just don't use it ... use the present instead. So how do you explain when to use a proper future ... and what's the difference between "I shall" and "I will"?

The classic example which I'm sure we all remember from school:

"I shall drown and nobody will save me"
Or
"I will drown and nobody shall save me"

Hithere

English is easy! Reading has some level of difficulty but grammar is very straight forward

French, in the other hand.... no comment, what a nightmare

Love German!

English is easy!

Are you a native English speaker?

I've always understood from those who teach English to foreign students that is more difficult than some other languages because of its irregularities, vagaries and different pronunciations of words which are spelt the same, the sounding of some consonants etc.

DD, who teaches English and speaks French, has been learning Spanish and said it is far more easy and logical.
Rather like Latin which is a relatively easy language to learn because it is logical and (usually) follows rules.

Claremont

English is so so easy at the beginner to early intermediate stage. I teach English, French and German- and my favourite is English up to intermediate level, as it is so joyfuly sinple. The difficult part is prepositions and thos pesky mutli phrasal verbs (think about all the meanings for just one 'put down').

To teach the future tense in French takes weeks or more, but just a few minutes in English. Same for the simple past, apart from learning basic irregular verbs.

So how would you explain when to use "I didn't see" and when to say "I haven't seen"?

The future is easy in German and English ... just don't use it ... use the present instead. So how do you explain when to use a proper future ... and what's the difference between "I shall" and "I will"?

English is so so easy at the beginner to early intermediate stage. I teach English, French and German- and my favourite is English up to intermediate level, as it is so joyfuly sinple. The difficult part is prepositions and thos pesky mutli phrasal verbs (think about all the meanings for just one 'put down').

To teach the future tense in French takes weeks or more, but just a few minutes in English. Same for the simple past, apart from learning basic irregular verbs.

I found French fairly easy - but only because I learned it when I was young! Children seem to have minds like sponges. Greek on the other hand …..
I tried to learn basic words on Duolingo before a holiday but I quickly gave up. We spoke to an old Greek chap on holiday and she said that even young Greeks are starting to invent a new, easier slang version because it’s so hard to learn their own language!

English is easy! Reading has some level of difficulty but grammar is very straight forward

French, in the other hand.... no comment, what a nightmare

Love German!

Witzend thank you for the examples, it really helps clarification.

I wish I knew what an imperfect subjunctive is Mamie.
I shall google ….

JackyB Germans who otherwise speak perfect English sometimes do it - it gives them away!