KNOWING RELATED LANGUAGES - such a help

Knowing French is without a doubt having an effect on the speed I'm improving my Spanish. And having learnt languages before (and teaching English) has taught me a number of fairly effective learning strategies, and that you really do 'reap what you sow'.

The same though goes for a person's knowledge of any language, in my opinion. Especially if that person can emphasise the similarities between the language and culture they use and the one they are reaching for.

When I started learning Korean 4 years ago, I was overwhelmed by how different it seemed to anything else I knew. But as I learnt more and became more comfortable using the language, I had to admit to myself that English and Korean have a lot in common. Most words have direct translations, even if they're used slightly differently in context; most people want to express the same ideas and feelings, adjectives come before nouns (ah, Spanish!); that when I follow the example of ("Strong the Force in you is, master Jedi") Yoda, it's easy to get the word order right. Couple this with the similar culture between me and Korean 20-somethings, and the world of difference I'd perceived at first just melted away.

Language, for me, is about relating.