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[Nicoletta Mithra]

(...), as well as what I learned from latin (not the language itself per se, but the etymological roots... awesome language btw, with a very nice ring to it and very clean and cartesian, although completely demented with over complicated rules).

Over complicated rules? I think the rules in Latin are straightforward, mostly, there's just a few modi in conjugation which make the language rich and kind'a complex, but even the romans used those merely for rhetorical flourish. I certainly found it less confusing than French (and therefore decided against the latter).

[Lyn Farel]

Complex yes, I meant more that indeed.

French is not over complicated, it's just a lunatic nightmare were the only rule is "it should follow the rules but instead it will sound like this because it's cooler".

[Louella Dougans]

used to be, in much of the UK, that a person's first encounter with concepts such as the past participle, was in foreign language classes at secondary school, and wasn't something that had been formally taught at primary schools.
Makes learning a foreign language harder, as people were having to learn a lot of normal grammar and stuff, as well as stuff specific to the language.

[orange]

(...), as well as what I learned from latin (not the language itself per se, but the etymological roots... awesome language btw, with a very nice ring to it and very clean and cartesian, although completely demented with over complicated rules).

Over complicated rules? I think the rules in Latin are straightforward, mostly, there's just a few modi in conjugation which make the language rich and kind'a complex, but even the romans used those merely for rhetorical flourish. I certainly found it less confusing than French (and therefore decided against the latter).

I actually learned a lot about the underlying structure of languages when I took one year of basic Latin.  While learning a language is easy as a child, understanding the mechanics of the language is much easier as a teenager/adult.

French is not over complicated, it's just a lunatic nightmare were the only rule is "it should follow the rules but instead it will sound like this because it's cooler".

I am not sure if any natural language is really simple.  A constructed language (conlang) could actually be very well structured with relatively simple rules, I think.  But then first contact with an actual society it will diverge from the "rules."

[Esna Pitoojee]

So, here's my situation:

My family comes from Poland/Russia, although we're several generations removed at this point. As a result, I speak a bare smattering of Russian, but not nearly enough to hold an effective conversation.

In grade school, they attempted to teach me Spanish for four years straight. I struggled with it, and never really got beyond the most basic phrases (mostly strings of a few words I could memorize, rather than actually understanding the meaning). By the time I hit High School, it was becoming quite apparent I was simply terrible at learning languages. While I managed to hold a respectable set of grades in other subjects - even those I struggled with - languages were just beyond me.

At this point, I'm somewhat resigned to the idea that I'm not good at languages, and probably will not learn another one to fluency. I am rather aware of the fact that this puts me at something of a disadvantage, but it's not something I feel can be remedied.

[Nicoletta Mithra]

Heya Esna,

I was never good at learning languages, per se. I'm really bad at acquiring vocabulary, especially. What I'm good at is getting a hang of the underlying structure of languages. Therefore, I appraoch learning a language quite differently form how most people would, I assume. I'm still not good at learning languages, but I enjoy it none the less and do so with some measure of success.

So, maybe it's just that you didn't find your way of learning a foreign language, yet?

(...), as well as what I learned from latin (not the language itself per se, but the etymological roots... awesome language btw, with a very nice ring to it and very clean and cartesian, although completely demented with over complicated rules).

Over complicated rules? I think the rules in Latin are straightforward, mostly, there's just a few modi in conjugation which make the language rich and kind'a complex, but even the romans used those merely for rhetorical flourish. I certainly found it less confusing than French (and therefore decided against the latter).

I actually learned a lot about the underlying structure of languages when I took one year of basic Latin.  While learning a language is easy as a child, understanding the mechanics of the language is much easier as a teenager/adult.

The pedagogy of Latin is traditionally suited to learning about the underlying structure of languages, at least the indo-european ones - or at least it is here in Germany. And it really helps, especially with the romanic languages, of which I can understand all the modern ones (with the exception of French) in reading at some basic level, due to having learned Latin. And I agree, it's easier to learn speaking a language when you're a child, but understanding the structure and 'mechanics' of a language is better approached when you're older.

I personally think it would be great if comparative linguistics/linguistic typology would be available as a subject in Gymnasia over here and generally speakingin secondary schools all over the world.

[Lyn Farel]

Yes I definitely agree with all above regarding latin. Learned it for 3 years and still find it more usefull than one can think at first. Of course I don't remember jack in vocabulary and stuff since I haven't practiced it for very long (like German), but the structure helps. Also, german helped me to learn latin too (I started german before latin), with declinations and all that.

Also, understanding latin must help with roman conjugation of verbs and tenses, since they are nothing like the anglo-saxon ones (which completely eluded me for a certain time in secondary school).

[Esna Pitoojee]

Heya Esna,

I was never good at learning languages, per se. I'm really bad at acquiring vocabulary, especially. What I'm good at is getting a hang of the underlying structure of languages. Therefore, I appraoch learning a language quite differently form how most people would, I assume. I'm still not good at learning languages, but I enjoy it none the less and do so with some measure of success.

So, maybe it's just that you didn't find your way of learning a foreign language, yet?

Possibly; I have also tried my hand at coding and found that to be unusually difficult as well (surprising, as I think of myself as otherwise technically knowledgeable) despite computer code being about as logical and structural as a language can get.