july.lullalove wrote:

I always wanted to learn Chinese and Thai, but I don't know if the problem was my way of hearing how they pronounce words but I really find it hard to grasp learning those languages.

Maybe it is because they are tonal. I learned both of them though, so it is possible ;)

Regarding the OP, I haven't come across a language that I couldn't learn. That being said, I quit both Thai and Japanese at one point, before picking them up again.

I was bad at Mandarin Chinese back in college and gave it up, but retrying it after learning Cantonese... Mandarin is soooo easy. You can actually hear what they're saying in distinct words! And they actually say what the text says they say. And there's a ton of learning material to work with.

...I still love Canto more, though. It sounds so good in my ears.

Animefangirl wrote:

I was bad at Mandarin Chinese back in college and gave it up, but retrying it after learning Cantonese... Mandarin is soooo easy. You can actually hear what they're saying in distinct words! And they actually say what the text says they say. And there's a ton of learning material to work with.
...I still love Canto more, though. It sounds so good in my ears.

Quit it - you're making me want to learn Canto! 

Join me... in despair!  

Maybe it is because they are tonal. I learned both of them though, so it is possible ;)

Regarding the OP, I haven't come across a language that I couldn't learn. That being said, I quit both Thai and Japanese at one point, before picking them up again.
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Thank you for sharing your experience!

Animefangirl wrote:

I was bad at Mandarin Chinese back in college and gave it up, but retrying it after learning Cantonese... Mandarin is soooo easy. You can actually hear what they're saying in distinct words! And they actually say what the text says they say. And there's a ton of learning material to work with.
...I still love Canto more, though. It sounds so good in my ears

I think you were able to learn Mandarin because the transfer of learning Cantonese has helped. It is like being able to learn how to ride a motorcycle easily because you have previous experience riding a bicycle. 

I haven't quit but I have been less interested in learning French since I went to stay in France last, without offense I found it to be the only place I have ever been and bothered to try to speak the language where the people were not very encouraging of it. I think there are some real sticklers when it comes to pronunciation, I find the pronunciation difficult in French especially when t varies regionally, I tried to perfect different pronunciations but couldn't please anyone and heard a lot of vulgar opinions about English people trying to murder their language and it left me a little disheartened to even try. Of course, this is just generalizing my personal experience and not to tar the French as a whole, I'd love to meet someone friendly and French here to maybe help and get me motivated with it again sometime :)

Jade.Xuereb wrote:

I haven't quit but I have been less interested in learning French since I went to stay in France last, without offense I found it to be the only place I have ever been and bothered to try to speak the language where the people were not very encouraging of it. I think there are some real sticklers when it comes to pronunciation, I find the pronunciation difficult in French especially when t varies regionally, I tried to perfect different pronunciations but couldn't please anyone and heard a lot of vulgar opinions about English people trying to murder their language and it left me a little disheartened to even try. Of course, this is just generalizing my personal experience and not to tar the French as a whole, I'd love to meet someone friendly and French here to maybe help and get me motivated with it again sometime :)

I agree. Encouragement from native-speakers is really a big factor. 

Jade.Xuereb wrote:

I haven't quit but I have been less interested in learning French since I went to stay in France last, without offense I found it to be the only place I have ever been and bothered to try to speak the language where the people were not very encouraging of it.

I've heard that a lot about the French, Parisiens in particular. I'm sorry that happened to you, but don't give up! 

...Or maybe give up and join me in Cantonese hell! 

I've gone and tried to learn a handful of different languages but I really think you have to have one language that you learn first... I am a native English speaker and am not fluent in any other language and never had exposure to another language. I tried learning Japanese on and off for a few years in high school... then Korean... Then Mandarin... and of course with all of these I was never very serious about it, just trying to have fun. 

Now I'm somewhere around B1 in Vietnamese and trying to pick up Dutch. I really want to learn many language, but every time I try to study something else, I just feel drawn back to Vietnamese. I feel like I really NEED to make it to B2 or low C1 to be satisfied. Then I will focus on other ones. I think the language I have given up the most on is Japanese because I spent about 300 hours in it and then dropped it never to be heard of again~ lol but I will pick it up after learning Vietnamese and Dutch. I have family who speaks Vietnamese and Dutch so that's why I am focusing those... I'd like those and Japanese to eventually be B2 or high B1 (N3-N2?). I also could consider Spanish as a language I gave up in... I figured I will eventually learn it because lots of kids are having Spanish immersion in school. Can't have my kids be speaking poorly about me without me to my face without me knowing!

Arabic. I started a University course in Arabic Language and Literature, but I quit after 3 years. It was very hard for me to recognise the difficulty, because I was used to get languages easily. It's a challenge I'll return to some day.