The Wrong Sister

One evening, I was catching up with people on Facebook. None of them were Stacey’s friends or family members. We simply had never connected there. Not even Stacey and I were connected there, as a matter of fact. Then a message alert popped up. It was from Lisa. We ended up having a chat that went something like this: Her: Stacey says you’ve studied several languages. Me: That is correct. Her: A friend of mine is considering studying a language and isn’t sure which one to go with. Me: She could always write the names of different languages on separate pieces of paper, fold them up, place them in a box, shake them up, and draw one randomly. Her: Haha, you’re funny. Actually, we were hoping you could tell us what would be easier and what’s more difficult. Me: Of the languages I’ve studied, the easiest language to learn would be Esperanto. Her: Esper what??? Me: LOL, it’s spoken in part of the Russian Federation. The second easiest would be Spanish, and next would be Portuguese, followed by Italian. French is the hardest of the Romance languages. The only thing that’s tricky with Romance languages is the grammar. You have to “flip” some things. I can’t say you’re a nice person. I have to say you’re a “person nice.” I have also studied some Germanic languages, including German and Dutch. Dutch isn’t that hard, but it has killer spelling. As with French, German is an extremely difficult language, but the good news is that a lot of it is structured more like English. It’s the grammar that’s totally insane. That’s all I can really tell you. Her: Well, that’s plenty of information for starters, and I really appreciate it, sweetie. Big sis wasn’t kidding when she said you were smart. You’re not anything less. Me: I’m not Lisa, my name is Shaylin. Lisa left here years ago… Her: Haha, haven’t heard that song in a long time. Me: Wow, you’re a smart one yourself to know the song. It just came on Pandora. Her: LOL, you crack me up. My cop show just came on. Me: Ah, those corrupt little boogers, huh? Her: Haha, you don’t like cops? Me: Not especially, but not for the reasons most people don’t. Her: Oh, I see. Me: Well, I’ll let you get to your show now. Enjoy the bacon. :-) Her: Bacon is bad for cholesterol. ;) Say hello to Stacey and do have a lovely night, Miss Howard. Me: Arrivederci!