There's an argument that it's not feasible to keep "small" languages "alive." "Small" is a relative term, as is "alive," but David Mitchell makes a reasoned argument for letting lesser used languages die out (in this case, Scottish Gaelic), as they have run their course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvlQXPNwrqo

However, there is another side to this argument, which is that there is a strong cultural and emotional attachment and imperative to preserving languages like Gaelic, Estonian, or Neapolitan, for example.

Should we invest time and resources into these languages, and under what conditions? Any thoughts are most welcome!

I guess it's a problem we've all faced before - you're motivated to learn a new language, but for some reason, you just can't seem to get your head around the nuances of the grammar, vocabulary, and other assorted subtleties. I'm facing that at the moment with French.

I've become fluent in Estonian, and if I had some practice, my Afrikaans and German would also be far better than they currently are. However, no matter how hard I try (which, if I'm honest, isn't very hard at the moment!), I can't seem to get my head around French.

So, I have a couple of questions:

1) Which is the most difficult language that you have studied? Was it completely unrelated to your mother tongue? And what aspects of the language did you find difficult?

2) Which have you found more useful when learning a language - formal lessons, immersion in the culture, forced use of the language, or something else?

3) Why did you learn that language? This is something that I ask at the beginning of most of my courses with new students, and the answer is usually "I need English for work or school." I hold out hope that there are other reasons for learning a language, though! 

I think that for me, a native English speaker, the most difficult language to learn was Russian, but I am struggling with French, despite the similarities between English and French. Estonian was surprisingly easy, but that is because I was completely immersed in the culture.

Regarding usefulness, I'd have to say a combination of formal lessons, immersion, and some gentle encouragement from family helped me to learn Estonian, German, and Afrikaans relatively quickly. I had a similar situation with Russian when living there, but I didn't continue with it as much as I should have and so I don't speak it as well as I used to. In France, there's less of that, though, so I haven't progressed as quickly as I would have hoped.

As to why I've studied the languages that I have - work and school! Except for German, which I studied because I like the sound of the language. 

What about everyone else here?