Why is English a difficult language?

Why is English a difficult language?

English is one of the most difficult languages on Earth. Due to the fact that it was built upon a coalescence of different languages and also because its many borrowings from other languages, the rules have lots of exceptions and its words are hard to spell.

Additionally, many words and letter combinations are pronounced differently even when they are spelled the same.

• The following sentence contains seven different spellings of the sound “ee”: He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas.
• The letters "ough" are pronounced nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
• “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is considered to be the toughest tongue–twister in English language.

On the positive side, English is very rich in meaning. There are so many synonyms and antonyms that the word with the exactly right connotations can be chosen.