[Dr. Sivana]

Yes, and besides its vast vocabulary, it is light compared to the Romance languages for conjugations and word declination. If you can simply say "subject-verb-direct object" you can get a lot said, and be understood even if you use the wrong tense.

"Business English" is a subset of standard English with only a few thousand words that makes a great second language ... so much so that I have read that in a room of international businessmen, the native English speaker may have the most problem being understood because of his use of an expanded vocabulary.

[kearnyirish2]

That is very interesting; in dealing with Quebecois and Puerto Ricans, I’ve noticed what you describe: While they may use the incorrect tense, they can make themselves understood. They all learn English in school but use French/Spanish in their everyday lives.

[fr_freak]

Yes, and besides its vast vocabulary, it is light compared to the Romance languages for conjugations and word declination.

I'm not a linguistic expert - I only know English and a couple of the Romance languages, but the comparison between the two types makes me think that part of the brilliance of the English language is its simplicity despite its complexity. Verb conjugation is extremely simple, and basic sentence structure is extremely simple. It is from those simple building blocks, though, that you can create some of the most complex thoughts possible.

If you look at language as being a game of Tetris, languages like the Latin-based ones have pieces falling that are more complicated all the time, like crosses and Z shapes, whereas English has simple squares and columns with the occasional odd shape. You can build much higher when you don't have to spend too much energy figuring out how to fit the next piece in.

Now, if we could just get our spelling issues under control...