I answered this question on the italki forum, but let's face it, serious language discussions are pretty rare over there. So here is my answer - feel free to give your own opinion or comment on mine. "I assume you mean conversation when you say "speak". There can be many reasons; I think it depends on the individual. If you often write, but rarely converse, for example. Or it might not even be true. When I first started writing Russian, I had already been conversing for 2 years, so writing was harder than conversing at that point. But for people who have been doing both for a long time, I think it's often true because you have time to process your thoughts, use a dictionary, grammar, etc, when you write. You don't have this luxury when you converse, which can lead to more mistakes."
In my mother tongue English I find writing much easier. With speech you have to come up with the goods instantaneously. On a computer it's a simple matter to replace individual words, re-arrange phrases, rework sentences, delete these clever little children individually, delete the whole friggin' mess if it's rubbish despite considerable efforts. I do use a dictionary for writing in English if I'm not sure (but use a thesaurus never).
One of the things I noticed when I was starting out in Spanish is that re-arranging and reworking are viable strategies on paper too. I was working through Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses using pencil, and to start with, I was using a rubber. As I got quicker, I managed to rearrange and rework the sentences in my head before my pencil got as far as writing them down. This led me to conclude that I was producing language "out of order", and I've suggested since that the reason many people struggle to move from writing to speaking is that they have developed strategies of reading and writing out of order, but that this strategy doesn't transfer easily to speaking, because you don't have the time or the mental capacity to reorder language on the fly while talking.
I think that it's easier for me to speak than to write because I don't have time to second-guess or rearrange anything. I have to trust my instinct, take risks, and focus on communication rather than on perfection. Often what tumbles out of my mouth is actually more correct than what I would end up with after scratching out, changing and rearranging. Oh, and also I'm really lazy. So there's that.
I'm with Big Dog and Stelle on this one. I speak way more than I write in Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole, so, speaking is much easier for me as a consequence.
Another thing to take into account - what is meant by easy? Is it speed? I can talk a hell of a lot faster than I can write in any language. Is it accuracy? Assuming I use a similar "difficulty level", and as long as I've kept up on my writing, my writing will be more accurate. If time isn't an issue, I think I can write much more eloquently than I can speak. I honestly think the op of that question was someone who had conversed very little, and was probably overwhelmed by Russian (originally he was talking about Russian) grammar. But we'll never know, because that discussion ended after 2 responses
Interesting question; my first instinct was to immediately say that writing is easier because you have time to think, but Stelle's post made me look at it from a slightly different perspective. I'm a lot more fussy when I'm writing, so if I'm writing a couple of sentences I might well read them over, make sure everything is correct, check words and expressions with a dictionary, and so on. Whereas with speaking, I just say the two sentences without much hesitation. They may not be as correct, but I'm getting the same message across with a lot less time and effort. So I think writing well is easier than speaking well in terms of the language level and skill required, but speaking is easier in terms of effort required. I also think that you can get away with a lot more errors in speaking than in writing, although that depends on the context. If I'm meeting a friend and writing a text message to say where I am, I write "spontaneously" almost as if I were speaking and do minimal proof-reading.
Another factor in speech is that you are having direct interaction with a partner who can ask for clarification immediately, as needed, and both of you are able to exchange feedback which can guide the conversation, there's body language, facial expression. With writing special care is needed to avoid misunderstandings. I don't enjoy talking, I prefer writing.
Oh, and Kurt Vonnegut said any dummy can look smarter than he really is if enough time is spent crafting sentences. I think he had me in mind.
For me it is the time to look things up that makes writing easier. But it certainly also plays a role that I spend much more time reading than listening to most of my languages.
Interesting question indeed. My answer would be that it really depends on how advanced I am in a language, and basically I would say that at a low/intermediate level, I find it easier to write than to speak, but at an advanced level (C1 or C2) I find it easier to speak. To give a couple of examples. In Russian I am probably at A2 level when it comes to active skills and B1 level for passive skills (reading and listening). I therefore do not know enough words to keep a long conversation going, I hesitate, I confuse things. If I write, it takes time, but at least I can look up words I don't know and check grammar if I am uncertain about a declination or conjugation. As for Spanish, where I am at a C1 or C2 level, well, I speak it every day with my wife, it comes naturally and instinctively, so speaking is not difficult at all. However, if I have to write in Spanish, I need to think hard about how to formulate things correctly, putting accents, commas etc. in the right place and ensure that I do not make spelling mistakes. Of course, a lot of context will come into play as well. I don't find it hard at all to write or speak in English, but that is because I use it for work every day of the week and write long documents and letters in English. Spanish, however, is a language I mostly use for speaking, and I seldom have to write long texts in Spanish. In the end, whether you find writing easy will depend on how much you practise writing. I write regularly in Romansh over on HTLAL in my log, and I find it easier the more I write. Unfortunately I almost never have the opportunity to speak with someone in Romansh - I end up speaking to myself, which is also easier than speaking with other people
For those learning (or mastering) russian, do you think it's useful to know to write and read in the handwritten form ? The only course I've seen where it's taught is in the book "modern russian" in which the text of the lesson is also written in handwritten form, and I have to say I have big difficulties to read that form
It's probably a good thing, but I admit that I don't do it. The first book I studied in Russian, beginner's russian script, had a pretty good introduction to handwriting. And Assimil often had a few sentences in handwriting. I decided not to continue learning it because I rarely encounter it doing the things that I like to do. But if I was going to live in a russian speaking country, I'd learn it.
I never really bothered, until I decided to take a TRKI exam and then I had to learn to write in the handwritten form in under two months. That sounds like a lot of time, but the written exam has a tough time limit so you need to be able to write very quickly. And of course I was cramming plenty of other studies into that time as well. In terms of reading, it's not so important, although if you intend to go to Russia, it could be useful for some stylised signs etc. But I think like all handwriting in general it is slowly becoming less important. I certainly write far more Russian by hand than English simply because everything is done by keyboard these days. Basically I wouldn't bother unless you intend to sit an exam, and even then you can learn to be fairly competent at writing within a few weeks. I probably wouldn't bother with reading it at all.
So you did it to increase your speed, or is it a requirement of the test? I ask because I'm considering (some day) taking the equivalent of the C1 test, whatever it's called.
Beyond the elementatry and basic levels (A1 & A2) it's a requirement, so I had to learn it. C1 would be "Certificate Level 3".
Thanks for your replies about the russian handwritten form, very interesting For training purpose , I've found that you can copy/paste any russian text found on the internet in Word/OOo/Libre Office, and choose the Propisi font: the text appears as written in cyrillic handwritten form.
Yes, I did make some flashcards with audio on the first side and the word in propisi font on the other. This helped me practice those words I frequently misspelled. Just as when you first start reading Russian it can be easy to confuse those letters that bear a resemblance to the English (Latin) ones, either by sound or by shape.
