Why is English so Difficult?

Aside from articles (a, an, the) and prepositions which a lot of people have problems with. I feel the major hurdle is the sheer number of words. If you're learning English, you will eventually get used to articles and prepositions. Words, on the other hand...

Take a look at the Global Language Monitor. There will soon be 1 million English words. According to the site, a new English language word is created every 98 minutes. lol

However, large English college level dictionaries (like Oxford) have around 600,000 definitions.

Comparable Spanish dictionaries have around 100,000 words.

Webster's estimates that 25,000 new English words are created every year.

Why are there so many words in English? One reason may be so many influences and origins. Oxford estimates that English was derived from the following:

French and Old Norman - 28%

Latin - 28%

German - 25%

Greek - 5%

Unknown origin - 5%

Proper names - 3%

The rest is from other languages including Dutch, Old Norse, etc.

Don't feel discouraged. You can communicate well with around 1,000 words.

I've been speaking English my entire life, but I'm still using the dictionary and learning new words. So, you're not alone.

This 13-year-old boy knows a lot more than me. >.<

By the way, five Indian-American kids reached the finals.

(I think India's biggest advantage over China is English fluency.)

*Bonus - A cheesy song called "Words."