Languages galore!

Talking of languages, I have always wanted to learn new languages. I have always been fascinated by cultures different from mine, their way of living etc.

I have always liked to believe that it is easy for me to learn new languages. But was I wrong!!! After coming to Cyprus, I tried learning greek. Phew! Gave up after learning a few phrases like kali mera, parakalo etc.

And there was this short stint at learning French! Man! That language has more exceptions than rules. Am still struggling with the basic phrases.

I read somewhere that it is easier to learn a language when you are a small child. Small children have this amazing ability to pick up languages, any number of them. One eg would be the Indian babies that I see here in Cyprus. By the time they are 2 yrs old, they can speak in their 'mother tongue', English and Greek too.

I remember watching this 1.5 yr kid who has a malayalee mom and a tamilian dad. The kid was so smart that he used to talk to him mom in malayalam and to his dad in tamil. After saying something to his mom, he would translate the same into tamil for his dad. Now, is that smart or what? Ever wondered how the kid picked this up?

On the other hand, I also know kids of mixed parentage who could not pick up either of the languages. Not their fault am sure!