What Makes English Vocabulary Difficult<br /><br />Mazin Hadi Kzar<br />Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, Al-Mustaqbal University College, 51001 Hillah, Babil, Iraq<br />[email protected]<br />In English, like in any other foreign language, some words are easier to learn than others. Easiest of all are the words more or less identical to the students’ native language, like, for instance, the word “vocabulary.” However, students might be trapped in their confidence with which they memorize such identical words, since English has a list of some problematic words, called “false friends”. These false friends are words identical in form to certain Romanian words, but completely different in meaning. An example of this would be “sensible.” While many students might confidently translate this word simply “sensibil,” they will be astonished to find out that, the Romanian equivalent for “sensible” is in fact “rational,” while the English equivalent for “sensibil” is “sensitive.” This demonstrates the crucial importance of allotting a special lesson for these false friends and of encouraging students to practise them as often as possible.<br /><br />Another aspect that makes English vocabulary difficult is the pronunciation of certain words. Many learners find that words with clusters of consonants such as “health” or “crisps” are problematic. Length or complexity of the words is another characteristic of the difficulty of English vocabulary. A long word will be more difficult to memorize than a short one. Also, variable stress of words such as “necessary” and “necessity” can add to their difficulty. The meaning of the words is another controversial feature of the English vocabulary.<br />Keywords : English,vocabulary, difficult