It's not about desire, but about practicality. It would take me a 10 hour drive to find somewhere where there is a significant population of "non-native" English speakers. I'm talking about Montreal, and that's the best attempt at comparison that I can make. Hop on a train in London and you're in Paris in 2.5 hours. Rent a car from there, drive 5 hours and you're in Frankfurt. You've hit 2 new languages in less time than it's taken me to find "1".
My mother is from Belgium and can barely speak french now after living here for 40 years. It's simply because the only practice she ever gets is the hour she spends on the phone with her aunt every couple of months. Unless I move, learning a language is just like any other hobby, only more impractical. I'd rather learn a new instrument to play every day than learn a new language to use once every 5 years.
My mother is from Belgium and can barely speak french now after living here for 40 years. It's simply because the only practice she ever gets is the hour she spends on the phone with her aunt every couple of months. Unless I move, learning a language is just like any other hobby, only more impractical. I'd rather learn a new instrument to play every day than learn a new language to use once every 5 years.