Method and Conclusion. See here.
Results. A ratings system was designed in terms of how difficult it would be for an English-language speaker to learn the language. In the case of English, English was judged according to how hard it would be for a non-English speaker to learn the language. Speaking, reading and writing were all considered.
Ratings: Languages are rated 1-6, easiest to hardest. 1 = easiest, 2 = moderately easy to average, 3 = average to moderately difficult, 4 = very difficult, 5 = extremely difficult, 6 = most difficult of all. Ratings are impressionistic.
Time needed. Time needed for an English language speaker to learn the language “reasonably well”: Level 1 languages = 3 months-1 year. Level 2 languages = 6 months-1 year. Level 3 languages = 1-2 years. Level 4 languages = 2 years. Level 5 languages = 3-4 years, but some may take longer. Level 6 languages = more than 4 years.
This post will look at Berik, Amele, and Valman in terms of how difficult it would be for an English speaker to learn them.
Tor-Kwerba
Orya-Tor
Tor
Berik is a Tor-Orya language spoken in Indonesian colony of Irian Jaya in New Guinea.
Verbs take many strange endings, in many cases mandatory ones, that indicate what time of day something happened, among other things.
Telbener – He drinks in the evening.
Where a verb takes an object, it will not only be marked for time of day but for the size of the object.
Kitobana – He gives three large objects to a man in the sunlight.
Verbs may also be marked for where the action takes place in reference to the speaker.
Gwerantena – To place a large object in a low place nearby.
Berik is rated 6, hardest of all.
Trans New Gu
Trans New Guinea
Madang
Croisilles
Gum
Amele is the world’s most complex language as far as verb forms go, with 69,000 finitive and 860 infinitive forms.
Amele is rated 6, hardest of all.
Torricelli
Wapei
Valman
Valman is a bizarre case where the word and that connects two nouns is actually a verb of all things, and is marked with the first noun as subject and the second noun as object.
John (subject) and Mary (object).
John is marked as subject for some reason, and Mary is marked as object, and the and word shows subject agreement with John and object agreement with Mary.
Valman gets a 6 rating, hardest of all.
