As so often before I agree with what you are saying in your latest article where you raise the question whether English is an easy language to learn.
You are right, I too think that there is no such thing like an easy or difficult language. English has a lot of advantages for people wanting to be able to quickly get a basic knowledge of the most commonly used phrases and respond to simple yet useful questions.
That's why English probably is faster and easer to learn than for German for example where the nounds and verbs have different endings depending on the context you are using them in. English words usually don't have varying endings (there is almost no declension and no conjugation in the English language) which reduces the number of pitfalls you are bound to stumble into when learning other languages.
Also, the English language has a lot of words that are made up by only 3 or 4 letters and there is a good balance of consonants and vowels which makes it easier to learn and memorize new vocabulary. An English word usually has different meanings depending on the context - a fact that I regard as another advantage for learners of English because you can express a lot of different meanings with a relatively small number of words.
Read more at http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/000037.html#2FSASYQsWrL70LQk.99