Rihays

French is considered a Class I language in America. Basically, it's really easy to learn if English is your native language. In my experience, I was reading [read: wading through thick mud] a full-length French novel within five months, and that was even with a ton of other languages on my plate. If French is the only language or one of a few languages, with dedicated studying, I don't see why you couldn't have the same results (but I'm not you; you know your abilities better than I). As far as similarities, English borrows [read: forcibly removes at knifepoint] a lot of words from Latin, which is the root of French, Italian, Spanish, etc. Starting out, you will see a lot of familiar-looking words which is good for building an initial vocabulary fairly quickly. But, as with most languages foreign to English, there are the unique agreements between nouns and adjectives, subjects and verbs, masculine and feminine, that English just doesn't have. It's a fact of life and the sooner you accept it as just part of the language (and most non-English languages), the better it will be. As with any language, you only get out what you put in. Basically, how bad do you want it?

If you can handle it, go for it. It will seem confusing at first, but as you get to know each language, you'll be able to pick out the things that make each language unique. Personally, I think between a Romance and Germanic language, it should come a little easier than, say, two Romance or two Germanic languages (though that would theoretically make the grammar a little easier), or even trying to swing multiple dialects of the same language (eg, Gaelic, Valyrian).

If you look through here: https://www.livelingua.com/#project You should find something that works. It contains entire courses from the FSI, DLI, and Peace Corps. Some of them are a bit dated (hence the scanned-in, typewriter look of some of them) but they work for a good, solid foundation. The only real drawback that I found was trying to find a good Hebrew course; the ones on this site are very old, hard to read, and even people with little or no experience in the language can feel how dated and archaic some of the words/grammar are.

I'm a bit shy, so starting them has always been a problem for me. ;_;

I'm a language addict. Some of it is pure fascination, some because of family heritage, some is nerdism, and some just because they are easy.

Just because I think I would run out of room in the title. I have a lot of languages I am learning, and I can learn them. I have the ability to keep them separate, even those that are very close. So, here is a list: Afrikaans Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe dialect) French (esp. African [read: Senegalese] French, or, failing that, Quebecois) Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Scottish German Hebrew Italian Latin, Classical Russian Swahili (esp. Ugandan) Zulu I also have endeavors in Dothraki, Na'vi, Quenya, and all Valyrian dialects (I'm a nerd). But because there are no real native speakers, it's mostly a hobby (which I would share with others who want to learn). I would hope to have a native speaker, but anyone who would consider themselves fluent is nice. And as a personal preference, I will talk to anyone on open forum, but messaging/email/tutoring/etc. I will do only with women. It's just a rule for myself. I don't Skype or other related apps or whatever; I just don't like it. But I message and email very well. I am also on italki if anyone can find me. As far as the actual...messaging, I suppose, I'll do a 50/50 with any of my listed languages. I will do receptive tutoring (you teach me, I do not teach you). And ultimately, I would like to just have a conversation that gets to be less of a hassle as time goes on, make a friend, give me a reason to come back. Reply here or PM if you are interested in some way.

Hai. Please, call me Rihays. I live in Michigan in the US. It is still very cold and I greatly disapprove. I am a language addict. I can't stop absorbing them. ;_; I am also terrible at these intro posts.