What is Hardest- Reading, Writing, or Speaking?

[JulesX]

For me it's speaking, and also listening. I've always preferred reading and writing to listening and speaking... I'm just that kind of person. That's why it's more difficult for me to speak than to write. I'm rather shy and extremely afraid of messing up.

You hit the nail on the head. I am also a bit of a perfectionist. I prefer reading and writing, because I am able to use the good old dictionary. However, with the exception of recorded material, it is virtually impossible to have everything repeated without annoying the speaker. Then I start to wonder if I interpreted correctly or if my response would be appropriate... I usually stop short of a full panic attack.

[KimErikson]

For me, the hardest part of learning a new language is the writing. Speaking and reading are pretty easy and you can get by if you make mistakes when speaking. Writing is difficult, especially if you need to use the language for business purposes. Writing a short email to a friend is one thing, but writing a business letter or something more important requuires a lot more time, and usually there will still be mistakes!

[Francisco23]

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 most effective at reading the language (I have a photographic memory so seeing words only spark my  memory. I also find writing and speakin it easy. My real problem is listening to it. It's so difficult to pick out the words one by one.

[ejazu]

For me the toughest aspect is definitely speaking and listening. Once you learn the alphabet of the respective language, reading and writing becomes easy as its just a test of your memory power. When I got the opportunity to visit Korea and was taught the Hangul script, I tried my best to read every signboard/hoarding on the street. This way I got more familiar with the language. Truly understanding a language involves being able to converse with the local people by understanding their accent. The mastery of this can take quite some time and it helps if your practice with a native speaker.

[xxxxxx]

For me the hardest part of learning a new language is in terms of speaking...Reading and writing works out just fine for me. What is difficult for me is the pronunciation and the diction when saying the words especially when using it already in a conversation. Constant practice of how to say the words in the right way I think is what I should do in order to be fluent in the language. And to think Hangeul is not that easy

[Permidian]

Speaking is definitely much harder than either reading or writing, it's not even close.

I can read and write completely fluently in English since years, but i'm still struggling with pronunciation!

Thankfully my best friend is American, and she helps me a lot with my pronunciation as well as my understanding (Which can be even harder than speaking depending on the accent). She makes a point of speaking English exclusively when we're together, which is pretty much every day, and corrects me when I'm pronouncing something wrong; it has helped improve both my understanding and pronunciation tremendously.

[igorrsobral]

Speaking and listening. Writing and reading are easy but speaking sometimes I mix words up or spend too much time wondering what's the word I intend to use next. Listening can be a nightmare sometimes... when I did my listening test in my German class I thought I was really ready but it is super hard to understand two Germans talking normally.

[ValerieAnne]

I've always found writing harder than reading or speaking because you have to remove where the special letters are/which sign is above the letter when writing it. When speaking, you just have to pronounce the word correctly, same as with reading. I think it takes a lot more patience too learn the symbols and how to spell the words than it is too speak or read them.

[Denis Hard]

Having tried my hand at writing, I can from experience say that writing is the most difficult of all. I'm not just talking about any form of writing, I'm talking about writing that achieves the primary purpose for which it's intended. It could be a letter or a resume but it takes a lot of skill to craft a piece of writing which attains that goal. I guess that's why there so many ghostwriters. . .

[lovemwaf]

Writing in another language to me is something that i would say is hard. I tend to pick phrases and the accents real nice and easy, but putting pen to the paper is a challenge to me. I love the adventure in learning and getting to experiment with new things so it is always a ball.

[Mole]

For me, speaking. Reading is the easiest, since most languages I have tried to learn use similar words that English has.

[sidney]

If the language has very hard symbols like the Chinese, Arabic, or Russian language, then of course you would find writing it quite hard. But if the words were written in the plain ABC letters, then speaking would be the hardest, because you have to really learn how to pronounce those foreign words.

[MyNameIsNotDenzel]

Listening and understanding conversational spanish is difficult. Are there practical ways to over this barrier?

[Kotro]

Really think it depends on the language. I have little trouble reading and speaking English, Portuguese and French, but still find myself commiting writting mistakes now and then. When I was learning German and Italian, however, I felt writing and reading was much easier than speaking and hearing the language. And I'm not even going into languages with different alphabets and symbols...

[Cath]

Writing is the most difficult for me, It is not so difficult to figure out how to pronounce a word when reading and when speaking I can simply make it sound perfect whereas in writing I have to spell correctly as if not that same word could mean something totally different from what I intended to mean.

[jbepp]

Definitely writing.

You have to remember the correct spelling, and if your native language is nothing like the one you're trying to learn, it really makes things difficult. I find speaking easy since you just have to remember how it sounds and then try to imitate the sound.

[wynnyfryd]

Speaking a foreign language is always my biggest challenge! The first foreign language I learned was Latin. We didn't have oral exams in that class (since only a handful of people still fluently speak it), so I didn't get much experience with the oral aspects of learning a language. Unfortunately, this inexperience tends to cause a lack of confidence when I try to speak new languages. I'm always worried that I'm going to butcher the accents or pronunciations.

[madlibber]

I would have to say that speaking is definitely the hardest for me. It takes time to comprehend things, so when speaking I find it harder to put the words in the right order on the spot. When writing I get a bit more time to think about how things need to be said and in what order. With reading, I find it the easiest because I can see root words to remember the meanings if I forget and can take my time as needed.

[sulayman]

For me writing has always been a challenge in the sense that i feel that i really have to apply myself in order for me to create a writing product that is actually really good. I think that over time and practice and wanting to do something really interesting and really good i developed a desire to do better.

[SpringBreeze]

For me, the hardest is definitely speaking. I cringe when I hear my accent. And I can't take 5 minutes to come up with the right word. But when I'm reading or writing, I can take my time to figure out each word. So, my writing and reading always appears better than my speech fluency.

Also, I think my inhibitions hold me back. I don't want to make a fool of myself. When I was studying languages in jurnior high school and high school, native speakers would make fun of me. I guess that has left its mark.

I also like getting my message out there all at once without the  "uhs". And so I rarely have the patience to stumble around, practicing. So, because of all that, speaking is the hardest.

[mareebaybay]

Reading languages, when you don't know them is the hardest part. I mean it is almost impossible to read something you can not interpret.

[Mrs17716]

For me, it's speaking.  I get so nervous, scared I'll use the wrong word, or pronunciation.  I know that's one of the best ways to learn, to speak it but I find it hard to put myself out there!  In college I took Spanish and I found it was easy for me to read/write it, but I lacked the confidence to speak it! 

[jcannon]

Definitely speaking, for me! While I can read French nearly fluently, and write it at a semi-fluent manner, speaking it likely makes me come off as a three year old. I stumble over my words; over the pronunciations, the order. I feel this may be because I am a more visual learning, so it is likely that I've memorized the way the words LOOK, so I can't just dump them out of my mouth. Some day!

[erronousRogue]

Speaking, especially overcoming accents. I have a pretty high standard of making myself sound "believable", or at least not too out of place when trying to speak a foreign language. There's also the issue of the more "modern" aspects of languages and slang words being used, which typically can't be learned or mastered just from books.

[Lin]

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?

Well, I believe I have no problem with the language I am learning...except that it's hard sometimes to recognize or pick out the particular words that a native speaker may be speaking. I can pretty much do anything in and with the language. But the pronunciations or accents of the natives give me a challenge.