> His flawless German, acquired post-college, as an au pair, made Dutch a cinch.
> It just takes time and effort
My uncle (a native English speaker) spoke about a dozen languages. Not one of them was a cinch. Although he loved learning new languages, he acquired them through relentless hard work.
However, he got himself in trouble with German / Dutch. Trying to practice his Dutch in the Netherlands, he ordered an ice cream using Dutch grammar but German words. This was in the late '60s, and the ice cream vendor, who was old enough to remember the occupation, mistook him for German. My uncle made things worse by saying, in German, "we must have misunderstood each other," at which point the ice cream vendor started mock goose-stepping around behind his stand. My uncle did not receive his ice cream.
> It just takes time and effort
My uncle (a native English speaker) spoke about a dozen languages. Not one of them was a cinch. Although he loved learning new languages, he acquired them through relentless hard work.
However, he got himself in trouble with German / Dutch. Trying to practice his Dutch in the Netherlands, he ordered an ice cream using Dutch grammar but German words. This was in the late '60s, and the ice cream vendor, who was old enough to remember the occupation, mistook him for German. My uncle made things worse by saying, in German, "we must have misunderstood each other," at which point the ice cream vendor started mock goose-stepping around behind his stand. My uncle did not receive his ice cream.