> Even better, we never have to change our
> articles depending on the gender of the noun.

Or even worse: our adjectives. I'm taking German, and while I find it to be generally easy once you pick it up, the adjectives are death. They decline not only based on gender but on case as well, and as if that weren't enough it's also different depending on if there's a definite article in front of it or an indefinite article or a possessive pronoun or a preposition or whatever. It's absolutely insane.


> I'll grant that spelling and pronouncing
> English is quite a chore

I think English spelling is more orderly than people tend to believe, but there certainly is room for improvement. I don't see what's so bad about pronouncing it, though, except that if you're not a native English speaker you need to have it worked out beforehand which dialect you're going to be trying to pronounce. (I recommend southern Californian, because while you do have to learn how to go "ERR", you can pronounce "cot" and "caught" exactly the same, and you don't have to go "hwat" for "what".)

-Eric Sleator
Thu 28 Nov A.D. 2002