I'll admit that this is my fourth year of Japanese, but its a complicated language to learn. And I do understand enough to survive for a bit in Japan... I think.
5 years of French, 3 years of German and 2 years of Spanish. All I can say is where I live and how old I am. Saying that, I'm 10 when I speak French, 14 when I speak German and 20 when I speak Spanish - all the ages I was when I started to learn! Haha!!!
I was taught Welsh in school since I was three; all the signs here are in English and Welsh and I AM Welsh, though I still only know a handful of phrases
It's easier to a learn a language similar to the ones you can already speaking. That's why I was able to learn Portuguese, while already knowing Spanish.
I took a couple years of French in high school, then a semester in college. I wasn't great at it, but could do the written assignments and spoken dialog things. Then I worked in a French speaking country for three years, and was miles (kilometers) ahead of the other Americans who were over there. It opened a lot of doors both in business and after hours (dealing with shopping, and also touring around which we did a lot). Once I had to start speaking the language, the practice filled in what I was missing from school.
Another thing in real conversation is the pace and vocabulary people use when they know you have limited language competence. If you watch a movie, the pace is too fast for beginners to get. And with liaison/elision in French, you have no chance as a beginner.
I hate it when I learn foreign languages and I subconsciously need to mess with my eye
Another thing in real conversation is the pace and vocabulary people use when they know you have limited language competence. If you watch a movie, the pace is too fast for beginners to get. And with liaison/elision in French, you have no chance as a beginner.