THE QUESTION of the 7th November...

[Jeb]

As an American who understood the German in your message even before I got down to your translation, I'm amazed that you say (in flawless English) that German is hard to learn. German grammar and pronunciation is complicated, but works according to rules with relatively few exceptions, while English grammar and pronunciation is all over the map. Learning any language as an adult is hard, but as I understand it, the international consensus is that English is one of the worst. So *I'm* glad I learned my English on my mother's knee and didn't have to pick it up later. Almost everyone on the internet speaks pretty good English, a fact that most native English speakers don't properly appreciate.