I so, so sympathize with people who have to learn English as a second (or third or fourth) language.

I can relate in part because I've had to learn a other languages myself (though I don't believe that Dutch is as technically complex as English) -- but lately I've been noticing how hard it is even for people who have to learn English as their first language! My children, of course, are the primary example that comes to my mind.

Our three-year-old, Cor, is starting to grasp the concept of the singular and the plural. Most of the time, you just add an "s" to any singular word to make it plural -- or, vice versa, you take away the "s" from any plural word to make it singular. But when Cor asks for a "Kleeneck" (instead of a Kleenex), he's greeted with laughs. Or when he wants to have one more bowl of Energy Mix cereal and asks for a bowl of "Energy Mick," he's corrected. He's following the logic, but the logic leads him nowhere! Fortunately, being three, he doesn't care and just keeps learning by trial and error. But it shows me how challenging the language acquisition process can be.

Even with my almost-nine-year-old, Elliot, the language acquisition process can be challenging. This morning, he was reading me some statistics from a magazine, and he relayed the information to me that NBA basketball star Kevin Durant has a wing-span of "seven-dot-five" feet. I told him that usually such a figure would be spoken out as "seven-point-five." But seriously: How ludicrous is it that a "." in internet lexicography is pronounced "dot," while a "."  in numerical scenarios is spoken out as "point" (nevermind the fact that it can also be pronounced "period" in other situations!)?!? The complexity of language in things like this is astounding. Elliot has a good feel for language -- speaking two of them quite fluently, and even beyond his age level -- but still, he hasn't been able to figure out these intricacies after nine years of dedicated, ground-level study! Crazy, isn't it?

It's crazy, but it's cool. Languistics fascinate me.