zompist bboard

Word order, especially when verbs are involved in subordinate clauses. Also, it seems that adjective declension seems somewhat difficult. I imagine [ç] and [χ] and [ʁ] are somewhat difficult as well until you've figured them out. German-learning people I've talked to have also complained about front-rounded vowels. Also, consonant pile-ups like Herkunftswörterbuch or Herbstpflanze might be problematic.

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giˈtaɹ.plɛɪ̯ɚ‿n dɪs.ˈgaɪz •
And! (upd. 28 Sep 2010)

I think I got a hold of the word order after two semesters but Christ the annoying derdiedas crap is just soooo frustrating.

Modal particles or anything of that kind.

Clusters of 3 sentence-final particles are extremely common.
It is like 我食咗飯 and 我食咗飯架啦喎 are both grammatical for "I have had a meal", but the particles are here to intensify the "alreadyness", or to add a tone of answering, or even to add an underlying meaning of "I don't need to eat anymore".

We can use them with ease, but it is very difficult to explain the meaning of each. If anyone can master Cantonese without immersion, congratulations, you are now my idol. *worships*

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疏我啲英文同語言學一樣咁屎！
[sɔː˥ ŋɔː˩˧ tiː˥ jɪŋ˥mɐn˧˥ tʰʊŋ˩ jyː˩˧jiːn˩hɔk̚˨ jɐt̚˥jœːŋ˧ kɐm˧ siː˧˥]
sor(ry) 1.SG POSS English and linguistics same DEM.ADJ shit

Dutch, I think pronunciation. Why? Because most languages don't have that many different vowel qualities.

Going by Guy Deutscher's recollections of learning English in The Unfolding of Language the big stumbling block in English is the horrible mess of verb conjugation.

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giˈtaɹ.plɛɪ̯ɚ‿n dɪs.ˈgaɪz •
And! (upd. 28 Sep 2010)

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and

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

Palatalization, for Russian.

Either they overdo it, or underdo it.

For Dutch: word order (like German, but even weirder) and . Especially the latter. Anyone being able to explain the difference between "maar" in "dat zou ik maar laten" and "dat heb ik maar vast gedaan" or between "wel" in "ik zal het hem wel zeggen" and "dat zie ik er wel van komen" gets bonus points. There is even an entire for this, appearently.


JAL

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May the odds be ever in your favor.
Oi sî đât sort điri
ever be-SUBJ the odds 2S-DAT

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and

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

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Attention, je pelote !

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そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。

A bunch of exceptions.
And a set of different written grammars and orthographies.

English's piss poor spelling.

A lot of Russians have trouble with the use of articles in English and will either leave out "the" when it is necessary, or insert it when it is not needed.

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and

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.