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[DJ]

I hate articles (the/a), but same can be said for a lot of other languages. They're just useless fluff, dammit!

[Skyrunner]

Tell me, though, all you English-As-A-Foreign-Language people...  Do you see the problem with the phrase "I could of done something"?  A lot of native English speakers don't.  Drives me mad.

I see something wrong. It seems like I could have done something but contracted to I could've done something which sounds like I could of done something.

As for the 'To be' thing, I don't know what exactly you are talking of, but if you mean that the most commonly used verbs are irregular, then I have proof in Spanish

To be = ser
I am = soy
You are = eres,
He is = es

o-O

Compared to other verbs (like comer):
To eat : comer
I eat = como
You eat : comes
He eats : come
A perfectly regular o,es,e conjugation! D:

As for an example of a natural language with regular 'to be' I present Alataic languages. Korean has the same conjugation for every subject, and I think Japanese does too. Not so sure about that one.

I am = "나는"
You are = "너는"
He is = "그는"
They all have 는 for "be". There isn't much of a infinitive form for the word, though.

[DarkWolfXV]

I like english cause its damn simple.

[MonkeyHead]

At least English doesnt have "mutations" where a word changes phonetically depending on context. Welsh is a pain because of this, particularly for loan words/neologisms... in certain sentences:

C becomes G (Cymru to Gymru)

B becomes M (Bag to Mag)

P becomes Mh (Passport to Mhasport)

Very annoying for leraners to know what changes and when. Cant say anything similar exists in English.

http://www.linguata.com/welsh/welsh-language-mutation.html
http://www.linguata.com/welsh/welsh-language-mutation-1.html

[Aequor]

English is all right, though I prefer French.

One thing that annoys me loads is random word/pronunciation changes for no reason. British English is the worst for this. Lieutenant=Left-tenant? How does -ieu make en -eff sound? How??

[Skyrunner]

Does anyone know French and Spanish well, and can comment on the similarities or lack thereof? I'm curious of their relations.

[DJ]

There's an f in lieutenant?! I always thought it's pronounced loo-tenant, which is kinda funny.

[Aequor]

That's the American pronunciation I think.

It just makes no sense, that's what really annoys me. It's the only time that -ieu becomes -ef, and it makes no sense.

[Vattic]

I like English but I'm monoglot and so can't compare. Unlike many I like the looser improper usage too.

It's come up before but I find place names amusing with their weird pronunciation.

The pronunciation is always what gets me.
I know lots of words but not all of their proper sounds. >.>

Proper is a tricky concept and especially so in the UK. I rarely meet people who speak with a Received Pronunciation accent even though that is considered proper. I'd go so far as to say most of the population don't use proper pronunciation.

Tell me, though, all you English-As-A-Foreign-Language people...  Do you see the problem with the phrase "I could of done something"?  A lot of native English speakers don't.  Drives me mad.

I'm native but have a problem with that phrase. I have been corrected for similar in the past. People just say what sounds like "of" but really it's "'av'" or even "have". It's been going on so long lots of people write it as "of". The sentence still might have it's flaws but then I was never very good at English.

Tell you what, though, I admire the Acadamie Francais (sans the properly-accented letters, there; sorry, AF!) for their attempts to keep the language pure.  I find it ironic, though, that it wasn't they who came up with the term "couriel[le]" as the non-anglophonic alternative to the loan-word variants of "email".  An elegant word (similarly compare "l'aerogliser" and "l'hovercraft") that I wish I could use more; but I'm largely non-francophonic, unfortunately.

I'm not a fan; Their activities seem unnatural to me.

[SoHowAreYou]

Actually I have a question does French, Spanish or the other Romance languages (Portuguese and Italian and Romanian yes I know this is the wrong way to do this.) still use the Latin conjugation rules for words:

3 types of person
singular or plural number
6 tenses
And then active or passive voice

[Twiggie]

English is all right, though I prefer French.

One thing that annoys me loads is random word/pronunciation changes for no reason. British English is the worst for this. Lieutenant=Left-tenant? How does -ieu make en -eff sound? How??

much as colonel turns into kernel, i imagine...

[ChairmanPoo]

I'm not 100% sure of what you mean, but if it is what I think I don't think (western) romance languages do. TBH I see more structural simmilarities between German and Latin than between Spanish and Latin, what with the declensions and stuff.

[SoHowAreYou]

I mean 72 combinations of verbs and endings.

[ChairmanPoo]

uhm, I'm still not sure of what you mean. Spanish verbs are conjugated for the various persons/pronouns, in the various "times" of each of the four modes (imperative, indicative, subjunctive, and conditional modes), plus the three impersonal forms,

[SoHowAreYou]

Here is a way to illustrate:

                 Active                                                 Passive
                 Singular Plural                                       Singular plural

Present      1st o        mus                                    or           mur
                2nd s        tis                                     ris            mini
                3rd t         nt                                     tur            ntur

This of that 6 more times

not counting infinitives and gerunds