<p>In my school, we make fun of the kids who take Latin. ;)</p>
<p>Studied 2.5 years of Chinese in Shanghai International School and it's a pain in the you-know-where. Writing it is so hard when there's no alphabet. :[</p>
<p>I can't imagine being trilingual/qualingual/ etc.</p>
<p>Hmm. Well in high school it all depends on the teacher. My German teacher is exceptional. With him I have advanced my German a lot in the past month.</p>
<p>Currently I speak Russian, English, Dutch, Hungarian. =)</p>
<p>The problem with some languages is the writing. Chinese is difficult to learn because of all the symbols. With Latin languages it can be simpler because the basic words retain their sounds.
What I have found is that it can be difficult to learn because most people think in words, in a single language. To speak several languages fluently means to be able to think in selfsame language. And changing one's way of thinking can be very difficult sometimes.</p>
<p>Haha, yeti crab's opening comment resonates deeply... although at my school, even the Latin kids make fun of themselves!</p>
<p>I have a cousin with virtually no strengths anywhere bar languages (to my great dismay, lol, I'm more a math and science guy). She's fluent, last I counted, in six of them. Suppose it might have something to do with her mum traveling with her at an early age and her picking up whatever languages she encountered. Nowadays she can learn new languages pretty easily.</p>
<p>I'm fluent in a measly two (Russian and English) and proficient conversationally in a third (Spanish), although eventually I hope to learn Japanese and maybe German.</p>
<p>Hopefully as either our understanding of the human brain or the current status of technology improves, we can mechanically alleviate any linguistic barriers by developing automatic language primers or bonafide babel fish or something similar. ;D</p>
<p>hubris isn't becoming on anyone... Maybe you should consider that people struggle with different things before you dismiss people's feelings so cavalierly. But I'm taking Latin so Im a completely different category, what do I know.</p>
<p>inveniam...i actually am loving Vergil now...my teacher is amazing...just the first few weeks (when I posted that originally) were bad, but now it's a lot better</p>
<p>btw, i saw on the other thread you are reading catallus...how is it?</p>
<p>High school language education is ********. I know more Spanish volunteering in Latin America for a month than people who have studied it for 4 years. If you're serious, the only way to learn a language is to go to a country where it's spoken and immerse yourself in the culture.</p>
<p>Yeti Crab, I also make fun of myself for taking Latin and often wonder why I did it. But I like it anyhow, and it's fun in a totally not useful kind of way.</p>
<p>Oh, Anon_person, I do like Catullus a lot, he's vvvvvvvery easy to understand, although we're on this epic "Catullus 64" poem that's like 400 lines long and for some reason his word order and everything is confusing, and the copy that we're using doesn't have macrons... urhglakwjflw so it's difficult. But other than that I love it, he's hilarious :]</p>
<p>Learning a language is easier when you care about learning it.</p>
<p>That, and if it's related to yours (ex. learning French when you're already fluent in Spanish) also greatly helps.</p>
<p>I always find it funny that Italian-speakers and Spanish-speakers can understand each other just fine... in China you can't even understand anyone from another city.</p>
<p>The worst reason I've heard for taking Latin is 'It will help you with the SAT!'</p>
<p>^^^ Haha, yes! The two languages are indeed very similar; like you said, when I was in Italy the language barrier was greatly diminished because I knew a good bit of Spanish.</p>
<p>Same goes for Portuguese and Spanish, probably Portuguese and Italian as well (although I can't really comment on the latter).</p>
<p>Likewise for the Slavic languages -- I can listen to a Ukrainian television or radio programs, for example, and understand most of what is said (ditto for Belarusian (according to family) seeing as I've never actually heard it spoken aloud and so can't be entirely sure).</p>
<p>honestly, I don't know. For me, spanish was one of the easiest As I've ever earned. </p>
<p>What I've come across is that Americans have a hard time learning a second language. While I am American, I've met countless numbers of Europeans, Asian, and South Americans that can speak 2, 3, 4, 5 and even 6 different languages. However, I hear contant complaints in the states about how hard basic spanish and french are. I'm not trying to say anything bad about Americans, just something I've noticed...</p>
<p>In Europe and South America, countries that speak different languages are as small and close together as our 50 states. This is not true so much of Asia; however, there are several different dialects in any given area of an Asian country. Naturally, on these continents, people are exposed to a lot more. </p>
<p>also Americans are dumb lul</p>
<p>It's the same for any subject. I can barely get through Calc AB but I'm fluent in Spanish after 4 years of classes and am teaching myself French (and I can understand Italian! LOL). I can't do physics but I wrote a 200-page novel when I was 10. It all depends on the person.</p>
<p>Siglio...el 16 de septiembre es mi cumpleaños, entonces cuando tenía pocos años pensaba que los mexicanos estaban celebrando para mi...mis padres no me dijeron la verdad por mucho tiempo... :)</p>
<p>i was doing absolutely fine in french until this year when i decided to skip a level into ap to boost my ranking. now i'm with a bunch of people who have been speaking french for the longest time ever and for once i feel overshadowed and as if i know nothing. seriously, i'm scared to say anything in that class because i'm scared somebody's going to confront me and be like "THAT DOESNT MAKE SENSE"</p>