The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Different but simpler pronunciation, because most vowels are short (â is almost the same as a nowadays). The French r may be difficult, but it's more of a problem for other Romance language speakers or Slavophones. German has adopted it though.
Almost no stress, or only a little at the end of words. Very complicated. 
You conveniently forget the large vocabulary shared by English and French since the Norman Conquest. Spelling being etymological and far from phonetical should help the Anglos feel right at home.

It's why reading French isn't too hard, as compared to say German.
Speaking French however relies on basic vocabulary, which is from a latin base, which makes it much harder than German.

[Duque de Bragança]

Different but simpler pronunciation, because most vowels are short (â is almost the same as a nowadays). The French r may be difficult, but it's more of a problem for other Romance language speakers or Slavophones. German has adopted it though.
Almost no stress, or only a little at the end of words. Very complicated. 
You conveniently forget the large vocabulary shared by English and French since the Norman Conquest. Spelling being etymological and far from phonetical should help the Anglos feel right at home.

It's why reading French isn't too hard, as compared to say German.
Speaking French however relies on basic grammar, which is from a latin base, which makes it much harder than German.

If French grammar were from a latin base, then it would be as hard as German. 
You like those declensions and cases? They don't exist anymore, both in English and French.

[Josquius]

On a more positive note about France I have recently read about the reason the house of Orange is so called and have a big desire to visit the city of Orange.
I should try to take a Monday off and do it and Avignon (long on my list) in a weekend.

Different but simpler pronunciation, because most vowels are short (â is almost the same as a nowadays). The French r may be difficult, but it's more of a problem for other Romance language speakers or Slavophones. German has adopted it though.
Almost no stress, or only a little at the end of words. Very complicated. 
You conveniently forget the large vocabulary shared by English and French since the Norman Conquest. Spelling being etymological and far from phonetical should help the Anglos feel right at home.

It's why reading French isn't too hard, as compared to say German.
Speaking French however relies on basic grammar, which is from a latin base, which makes it much harder than German.

If French grammar were from a latin base, then it would be as hard as German. 
You like those declensions and cases? They don't exist anymore, both in English and French.

I've never studied German though I hear it is tough. I only speak English, Swedish and Japanese to any decent degree, and the latter two are decaying.
What I mean is, though I've never studied German, I hear German spoken and get the gist of it despite never having formally studied it. Most of the basic words and structure are from the same base. Reading German meanwhile is very hard. English uses latin vocab for more advanced topics.
In French it is the opposite. Basic stuff comes from latin and is utterly foreign. Whilst reading advanced stuff is largely just slightly varied English.

[Valmy]

Speaking French however relies on basic grammar, which is from a latin base, which makes it much harder than German.

Writing French is a nightmare. But speaking French is easy since, yes they have those Latin endings, but they hardly ever actually vocalize them.

[Josquius]

Brain fart.
I meant vocab.

[The Brain]

Done!

[Valmy]

Brain fart.
I meant vocab.

The majority of English words are from French and Latin

But the most common ones are Germanic so you do have a little trouble learning the french version of those, but that is not very many words. When I came to a weird word you don't use often I would usually just guess it was the English word and was almost always correct.

There are also a load of identical words that have different meanings in French and English though. That can get fun.

[Eddie Teach]

Done!

Brain improve diet.

[Duque de Bragança]

Speaking French however relies on basic grammar, which is from a latin base, which makes it much harder than German.

Writing French is a nightmare. But speaking French is easy since, yes they have those Latin endings, but they hardly ever actually vocalize them.

Except in liaisons.
Incidentally, Macron likes a lot to vocalise those endings, or even vocalise them when they do not exist. He gives a whole new meaning to the Liaisons Dangereuses. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZCcn7TkWfU 10'08" starts with n
Comedians love to impersonate him by using that trait.

[Josquius]

Brain fart.
I meant vocab.

The majority of English words are from French and Latin

But the most common ones are Germanic so you do have a little trouble learning the french version of those, but that is not very many words. When I came to a weird word you don't use often I would usually just guess it was the English word and was almost always correct.

What I mean is.
Simple English = Simple Germanic = Simple German
Advanced English = Advanced French = Advanced Latin
Simple French = Simple Latin != Simple English

A quick google translate example
je bois de l'eau  =  ich trinke Wasser   = I drink water. Hell yes the German makes sense, particularly when spoken

connectez le câble étendu à la télévision = Verbinden Sie das verlängerte Kabel mit dem Fernseher = German is WTF? With some basic grammar knowledge and a check of etendu the French makes sense.


Really I think it's even the thought process behind it all, so maybe grammar also, when I was walking in the backwoods of the German part and ran across an old guy who couldn't speak a word of English I was still able to have a few friendly words with him. The structure was there and the words are understandable.
In French....less so.

Meanwhile give me a manual in German and I've no bloody idea what all these technical words mean.
In French they're just English words surrounded by French.

In theory learning a Swadist list of French words should cover the gap but...tried that, no luck.
I'm just not a good speaker even in English I guess.

There are also a load of identical words that have different meanings in French and English though. That can get fun.

Oh yes.
Even worse are those that have broadly the same meaning but with slightly different connotations.
Like demand.
Writing this as a supplicant in English...fuck no.
Yet in French its the done thing.
I'm sure this kind of falsely assumed knowledge causes far more troubles than definite foreignness ever did.

[The Brain]

Done!

Brain improve diet.

No. Surströmming 4life.

[Duque de Bragança]

There are also a load of identical words that have different meanings in French and English though. That can get fun.

Oh yes.
Even worse are those that have broadly the same meaning but with slightly different connotations.
Like demand.
Writing this as a supplicant in English...fuck no.
Yet in French its the done thing.
I'm sure this kind of falsely assumed knowledge causes far more troubles than definite foreignness ever did.

Ah, false friends/deceptive cognates... 

[dps]

IMO, the easiest foreign language to read is Spanish.  I can struggle through, say, an instruction manual in Spanish, despite not speaking the languge or having ever studied it, but it's much harder for me to decypher written French, ever though I took a year of French in high school.

[Duque de Bragança]

Done!

Brain improve diet.

No. Surströmming 4life.

Surströmming smells even worse than farts.  Talk about a blessing in disguise!

[mongers]