What is Hardest- Reading, Writing, or Speaking?

[resilientsage29]

Speaking probably, because you have to think fast or be spontaneous. Unlike writing or reading were you still have time to think or even check some reference like the internet to get the correct spelling or the most appropriate word. When you can' t think fast, you have to stop to compose some sentence which will actually live the conversation hanging for a moment.

[Adobo]

For me it would be speaking since we don’t normally speak English in our regular conversation. Usually, we only speak in English when we are asked or being talk to that way and like resilientsage29 said, it requires spontaneity. I actually mind my grammar when I speak so I could not deliver like when I speak in my own language.

[Katewon1]

I would definitely have to go with speaking. It can be very difficult to come up with the right words as you are going along, and of course there is always the issue of correct pronunciation. That dang American accent can be pretty hard to get rid of! I enjoy reading more because you can go at your own pace. Listening can be hard too if someone is speaking very fast.

[Dame6089]

In my opinion speaking is the most difficult. But it is worth noting that I actually think that listening may be even harder than reading, writing, and speaking. As a learner, it can be really difficult to understand a naive speaker who speaks in a natural rythm .

[Guest akasha24]

For me personally, I found writing to be the hardest when learning a new language. I have a very good ear,

so speaking is the easiest for me. Reading isn't that hard either but writing has always been difficult.

I was always good at learning foreign languages at school but my grades went down most of the time if we had a spelling test or if I had to write long sentences.

[JessiFox]

Speaking/listening tend to be the hardest for me....writing and reading are easier to process.

[azathoth]

Speaking, most definitely.  Not only do you have to think on your feet, but you have to be careful about your pronunciation in order to not confuse to listener completely.  Reading and writing are actually quite easy for me, because I can take my time and look words and examples up in order to help myself along.  You don't get to take it that easy when talking, unfortunately, since the point is to carry out a conversation. You'd probably end up annoying your conversation partner if you even tried.

[calebmelvern]

No doubt it, it's speaking for me. I used to be very shy and speaking in front of a large audience terrified me. I'm glad I was able to overcome this though I still get nervous which is only natural I think. I sometimes feel too conscious and as a non-native English speaker, I'm still not fully confident with my diction.

Reading is the easiest for me, then close to it is writing. I've been writing online for the past two years and this helped me improve my writing a lot.

[Qamra]

Talking is the most difficult for me.

When I started learning Arabic, I learnt the alphabet first! I could read words and write them too, I don't find Arabic letters complicated at all, but it's a nightmare when comes to talking.

I'd rather just read and write  :speechless:

[Baburra]

I think any form, taught at the right time and in the right way, will make it easy to learn for anyone. Still, in the case of self education, I'd say learning the writings are a lot harder to memorize, especially for languages that use characters besides the English alphabet, in my opinion.

[whatupswags]

I think this totally depends on how we learn anything; visually, audibly, kinesthetically. I am a visual learner, so the reading and writing of languages is a very simple and easy to understand process for me. Speaking is difficult because I want to be able to speak quickly and make no mistakes, but I have to slow down and be humbled by my errors (in French). Listening and understanding the spoken word has been the most difficult for me. Where I slow down in my speaking, the French locals have no reason to - but my ears are not even at the same slow speed of my speech! It's been coming along (for two years), but I still find myself piecing together what someone's saying just through key words and hoping that I've understood them correctly!

My husband, on the other hand, is not a visual learner. I've been amazed at how much French he has absorbed just through listening and speaking, but he is illiterate when it comes to reading and writing! It really depends on learning styles, and how hard we are willing to work to compensate in those areas where we are not as strong.

[Joe D.]

I learn to read and write languages much quicker and easier than I learn to understand the spoken word. Even the Romance languages I do not speak, such as Italian and Portuguese, I can generally get a lot out of the written page. Some of the tenses, such as past perfect and conditional phrases, do not come naturally to me in any language but my native English. I have to think about them, though I understand them just fine when someone else says them properly. If we knew why we have such differences in comprehension, it would probably give a good cue as to how our individual minds work and process information.

[pandandesign]

Oh speaking without a doubt. I read French quite fluently down in France and it'll take me a few days before I feel at home speaking.

I agree. Speaking is much harder than writing and reading. I think speaking takes a lot of practices because in order to speak fluently, you have to know the language very well. I do see a lot of people, whose English isn't their first language, speak very well.

Is French hard? I have learned French when I was in high school. I think it is very difficult to learn.

[writeletters]

In another language I always find the hardest thing to be speaking. It's hard to suddenly have to learn new ways of pronouncing letters and sounds. It's always a bit crazy at first, until you get used to it. I think reading, however, is relatively easy because you can find similar looking words.

[writeletters]

In another language I always find the hardest thing to be speaking. It's hard to suddenly have to learn new ways of pronouncing letters and sounds. It's always a bit crazy at first, until you get used to it. I think reading, however, is relatively easy because you can find similar looking words.

[mitchellgrzechnik]

For me, speaking is the hardest part. When you have a conversation with someone there's a sort of pressure to not hold up the conversation while also making sense. With reading and writing I can kind of work it out at my own pace.

[ashleybotts]

Writing is definitely the hardest. While learning Japanese, I honestly don't intend to write Kanji... I will learn Hiragana and Katakana, but there is no reason for me to learn to write Kanji. Even if I lived in Japan, I can get by without writing anything to anyone. How often do I write things to people in English right now? Well... Besides a shopping list, I can't really think of anything.

[kniera]

Depends on which language but I think in most it will be speaking.

[KellyValentine]

I really can't answer answer this personally because I only know one language. I think someone who knows multiple languages would be able to answer this question more accurately. I do believe however that it depends on the person. Spanish might be easy for one person to learn and then might be hard for someone else.

[akhdair]

For me, the biggest problem I faced while I was studying French language was the writing matter, as there were a lot of exceptional cases and I need to memorize a lot of words. While in the English language, I did not encounter this situation, and I managed to write any new word but listening to the syllables of it.

[Hardison]

Speaking is the hardest part for me especially pronunciation. Reading is the easiest for me. I am very strong at book learning. Even though I no longer speak Spanish well, I can still read Spanish. I can also understand others who are speaking Spanish.

[diprod]

What is most difficult for you in a foreign language- reading, writing, or speaking? For me it is definitely writing, especially as I progress in a language.  Very early on, while I am still getting used to new sounds and pronunciation, I sometimes find speaking harder, but that usually lasts a few months at most.

What is hardest for you and why?

I would go with writing as well. It's easy to just mimic the sounds and pronunciation. But to formally write those, yes I'm definitely going to have a problem.

[jodig]

I will go with speaking on this one. And by speaking I mean fluent interactions. It is a true test when you have to put in practice everything you have learned while talking with a native speaker of the target language and knowing that there is no other way to communicate.

Also, keep in mind that the conversations a tourist might have aren't that complex, yet most people (if not all) have trouble.

Speaking is the last step of mastering a language, in my opinion!

[rebel]

Hehe, tricky question. When I was preparing for the Cambridge's CAE exam I thought I had it all covered, so I did not pay much attention to any special preparations. When the day came, I don't know why, be it because of stress or perhaps because I was tired, I scored highest on the speaking exam, the second high score was the writing, followed by grammar and listening on the last place. I don't know why I scored the least while listening to a simple text, but I know for a fact that I did not expect it.

Briefly, I find reading the hardest part. Some texts may be extremely difficult, have a number of unknown words and etcetera. They can be very confusing overall.

[MyDigitalpoint]

Personally I have always thought that is easier writing it, then read it and the hardest part is speaking it, but it could be only my perception, and the fact that I'm more commonly focused on both writing and reading, not really many opportunities to speak this language.