
It is helpful to remember that in many cases, words with the same spelling have a verb form and a noun form (“produce and produce,” “present and present,” “record and record”), with the noun form having the stress on the first syllable (“PRO-duce,” “PREZ-ent,” and “RE-cord”) and the verb form having the stress on the second syllable (“pro-DUCE,” “pre-ZENT,” and “re-CORD”). In both speech and when reading, non-native speakers may have difficulty remembering which pronunciation to use at which time. Sentences like, “It's time to present her the present” have the same word (“present”) twice, but are pronounced differently each time (pree-ZENT and PREZ-ent). Words with the Same Spelling Can Have Different Pronunciationsįor English pronunciation, context and parts of speech matter greatly. Here are some of the linguistic inconsistencies that make the English language difficult for non-native speakers to learn and why it still might be a good idea to get some extra help when using English (or any other foreign language) in your business or organization.

The language features grammatical rules that are often broken, an alphabet that can confuse people who are used to a character-based system, and spelling and pronunciation irregularities that perplex even native speakers. There are 1.5 billion English language learners and 527 million native English speakers worldwide, meaning that approximately a quarter of the global population has at least some familiarity with English.ĭespite its importance in global affairs and commerce, English is an immensely difficult language to learn.

As the international language of business, science, and academia, English is the most studied language in the world.
