I know that I don't know a lot, and by itself it's already a lot.

Edit warning: The article is longer than expected at first. Please excuse me for the potential inconvenience. To keep you company, I've found an owl taking a bath. Enjoy.

We were talking about languages, and the fact that we intend to learn a bunch of them. Like, litterally as many languages as possible.
Leaving the country next month, I know I'll have the possibility to learn and practice many languages that were up to now impossible to study (because of the lack of time and of people to talk with - that's the problem of living in your birth country: you already speak the local language)
I am always happy when my friends plan on learning a language which is also on my list.
Swedish, German, Italian, Russian, Thaï, Arabic...

But as we talked about it Someone told me that I'd have to be patient, because even if one started to learn a language with me, I'd be way over one's level in the same amount of time.
That remark got stuck in my head somehow.

I have indeed been studying a couple of languages. French, obviously, since it's my mother tong. English, (seems obvious too, since I am... well, writing in english, as an attempt to practice), Italian, too, because, why not? (I started in highschool and since made new friends in Italy) and Spanish.
I recently started German, because it's a good base to then learn Russian (and I've always been quite intrigued with the language and the culture). German is indeed easier to learn from an English speaker point of view than from a French point of view, so I take my classes in English.

To me learning languages is both weird and natural.
Learning French as a kid was quite a pain. I had an extended vocabulary, spoke easily with complex sentences, but writting was a PAIN. As my mother used to say, I re-invented French several times. [Dyslexia didn't help, that's for sure]
I knew how to talk, but write was something else entierly. I couldn't grasp grammar even if my life depended on it, I couln't remember the proper conjugaison of a verb, or what I was supposed to put at the end of an adjective.
Again, talking came naturally and I didn't make mistakes, which drove my parents mad.
Well, to be honnest, it drove me mad too. My head has awlays been full of stories, of great quest, dragons, spaceship, epic quests and beautifull landscape. I had maelstorm of words spinning in there and was unable to share them without making a fool of myself. It's both extremely frustrating and actually hurting.

At some point I was so pissed for not being able to write correctly all the things that were in my head, I bit myself until I got it all. was hard. hated it, but it had to be done.
I learned out of shame and stubborness. I was tired of people never taking me seriously because of my grammar or  my spelling mistakes. I took extra classes, wrote more carefully and change the way I read. (went from binge-reading to Reading the word one by one - Now you know why I read so slowly, It's still something new for me)
And that's how I started to write French. Took me ages, and I think I really got it right only in the middle of highschool.)

I never had the same problem with English. I learnt it from scratch, and even if I was still struggling with french I didn't have so many problems with english. Of course it wasn't perfect (Still isn't perfet, whatever the Sweet monster can say - He seems unable to realise that his english is actualy more fluent than mine. But never mind.)

So when he told me that I had to be patient with people learning new languages, beause I seem to learn them fast and without real struggle, it stuck. I had so much trouble learning my mother tong, how could he really say that? I study for the sake of what is left of my sanity. To me, the more languages you speak the more you'll be able to travel, and learn and read. Languages are an window on other people's lives, and learning them only seem natural. The more I learn, the easier it gets. words from different languages get linked together around ideas and concepts. It's both very clear and all mixed.
But I don't think I learn languages any faster than anyone else. I'm not even very serious in my studies.
I only do it for fun and for curiosity.