I don't recall this thread, I must've missed it first time around.
@Afrim, interesting stuff, I didn't know that about the language in albania.
@Arabic, the problem with those created universal language thingies, like esperanto is practically nobody actually speaks them accept in dedicated communities. Esperanto has gone out of fashion I think precisely for that reason, in that back in the ninenties it was just a sort of status symbol more than a practical language and a way for people to prove how modern and cultured they were (there's fun made of this in the British scifi comedy tv and book series Red Dwarf).
Anyway, to an extent the arguement of language similarity based on similar origin, grammar etc seems vaguely true, a Dutch friend of mine did tell me she found English easy and said it was because it was linguistically closest to dutch (though whether this is true or just her opinion I'm not sure). however also I agree with Assault freak, things are often highly individual. If you have like my brothered watched a lot of subtitled Japanese things, you will naturally absorb some of the language, just as you would if you say lived in a place where more than one language was spoken, I have a cousin who's wife is Estonian and their sun who was about four when I last saw him spoke English and Russian pretty equally and switched between the two quite casually.
Despite the supposed French influence on English, I found, and in fact still find French a horribly difficult language, both in it's pronunciation and emphasis, and in it's down right crazy spelling! Indeed it is quite odd, I came back from a week in Austria speaking actually quite a bit of German, just from learning how to order food in restaurants, buy things in shops and say I was from England, (the majority of the Austrians where I was spoke extremely good English but I did appreciate learning the language).
I also came back from Griece when I was a teenager knowing a few words of modern Griek, particularly because the Grieks seemed to appreciate the fact that I'd made an effort, but I've not once learnt any French despite going to France several times and despite whilst in France people often seem to understand English but do not actually speak it, ---- not sure why this is, or even if it is all of France or just the bits I saw, though it's a fairly common experience that people I know who have been to France have had. One French chap I met who I discussed this with, (he was a Doctor of Archaeology), actually said the French education system was so theoretical, that people in France who learnt English actually never got any chance to practice it at school, they were just first presented with the grammer and word list. I don't know if this is true, or if any of our French members could confirm it but it was an interesting thought.
Apart from French though, I did spanish at school which I found not too hard, the concepts with the different tenses were not difficult for me to understand albeit that I was learning in secondary school so the pace was slower, and have been learning conversational Italian which again I find relatively easy, basically so that i am a more effective singer in the language, although it's structure is far less rigid than spanish and remembering all those irregular verds is a pest (in Spanish it always seemed far easier to just learn the rules annd apply them), particularly sinse I don't unfortunately italian on a frequent bases.
I could probably make myself understood, and cope if I had to order in a restaurant, go shopping, do the touristy things, and according to people I've sung or spoken to mmy pronunciation is fairly convincinn, but I don't find myself completely natural in the languaage or able to converse without extensive pauses and rememberings by me of what word or tense applies, though according to my teacher I've not done too badly.
What I particularly like is that given that my teacher is from genoa, I learn a lot of the culture and about life as well as language, plus she gives me the most amazing Italian imported coffee! .
What I did find interesting is that when my parents, and to an extent I first met my teacher we believed her to be a slightly abrupt rather commanding lady because of the way she spoke. she would say things like "You come on wednesday", or "Go and sit down and I will make the coffee"
These sound almost rude in English, given that in English we'd usually phraise such things as requests, or add the word please to be polite, eg, "come back on wednesday please" or "If you sit down I will bring you some coffee" and originally we assumed my teacher was a rather foreceful lady. Funnily enough though, it turned out as I got to know her that is not the case at all, and when I learnt the Italian it turns out Italians have a very different method of Politeness, don't use please casually, and indeed to actually give! orders would need a totally different imperative tense, something which doesn't exist in English.
Even though my teacher has for the last 40 or so years beenmarried to an Englishman, and obviously lived over here, she still has sort of an Italian manner of speech which as I said gave the wrong impression of her personality in a slightly different cultural context which I found quite interesting.
With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)