@JPR I took 6 weeks of French, German, Latin, Spanish and Russian when I was in 6th grade. We had to choose a language to focus on. At that age I was learning Hebrew for my bar mitzva so I ruled out German because it was too close, Latin and Russian because I figured I would never go to wherever they were spoken, and French because there were too many sounds not in my skills already and it hurt my mouth to try and speak it correctly. So I took spanish. I can now, 40 years later, ask for a bathroom, or order tacos in Spanish if I am lucky. :( I should have grown up with Russian and Yiddish, but the old folks only spoke it in front of the children when they didn't want us to understand them. So I can say hello in lots of languages, and not much else.
@JPR I took 6 weeks of French, German, Latin, Spanish and Russian when I was in 6th grade. We had to choose a language to focus on. At that age I was learning Hebrew for my bar mitzva so I ruled out German because it was too close, Latin and Russian because I figured I would never go to wherever they were spoken, and French because there were too many sounds not in my skills already and it hurt my mouth to try and speak it correctly. So I took spanish. I can now, 40 years later, ask for a bathroom, or order tacos in Spanish if I am lucky. :(
I should have grown up with Russian and Yiddish, but the old folks only spoke it in front of the children when they didn't want us to understand them. So I can say hello in lots of languages, and not much else.