This is my first post ever, so I wanted to write this in my native language, English (though if I've made any flagrant errors, feel free to correct them).

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October 25, 2020.

I have both an easy and a hard time believing that it has only been 3 and a half months since then. Because that's when I started learning Dutch—but somehow, Dutch is already my best foreign language after such a short amount of time.

And there's no easiness in believing that.

That's because I started learning Hebrew over 10 years ago, when I was in the middle of kindergarten. I continued to learn Hebrew at my school until ninth grade. But after learning Hebrew 4 or 5 days each week for years on end, I was nowhere near a conversational level—quite the contrast from the speed at which I have been learning Dutch.

So, I've decided to list out some potential reasons why this might be the case:

1) Whenever I'm learning Dutch, I get to do it at my own pace—meaning that it doesn't take me a half dozen years to start learning the past tense of verbs (no, this is not an exaggeration)

2) I'm more motivated to learn Dutch, while learning Hebrew at school felt more like a chore that I (at the time) had little interest in (by the way, it wasn't just me; some students burned their Hebrew materials because they hated the class so much)

3) Dutch is a much easier language: It has simple conjugations, an intuitive and familiar spelling system (this is a huge oversimplification, but Hebrew vowels aren't always written), and many cognates with English, even within its core vocabulary

4) I have much more experience with learning languages now, after several years of studying both Hebrew and Spanish

5) I am spending more time with Dutch than I was with Hebrew, and I am also spending a lot of that time with Dutch input

6) I get to learn in a forgiving environment that's stress-free and doesn't punish me for making a mistake (this is why I stopped using Duolingo for now—and why I will never again use it via the mobile app)

7) I am genuinely having a great time right now—if I am enjoying myself while learning, I am more likely to learn for longer and better retain that knowledge

Each of the above factors contributes slightly to this difference, and when put together, they can make 3 and a half months of learning Dutch more rewarding than several years of learning Hebrew.

But observant readers might have noticed that in my list, I briefly mentioned Spanish. I began to learn Spanish in fifth grade and have been learning it since (I'm midway through Spanish III, as of now).

And Spanish is—for native English speakers, at least—much easier than Hebrew. So why is my Dutch also better than my Spanish?

I won't bore you with another list—after all, most of the reasoning is the same as with Hebrew (and this post is already way too long)—but I will say this:

The pace at which I have been learning Spanish is not exceptionally slow, but my school has not exactly utilized my time as well as it could have. By no means am I saying that my school is at fault here; this is just the nature of learning a foreign language in a class full of other students with other needs.

Meanwhile, I have tailored my Dutch learning in a way that specifically benefits me; in other words, I can do whatever I want. And that has a lot of benefits.

But I still care about Spanish and Hebrew.

In fact, I plan to begin self-studying Hebrew where I left off, once my spring break commences.

And for Spanish? Well, I'm fortunate enough to go to a school that offers a two-year International Baccalaureate Spanish course—and I'm taking that course next year.

But for right now, my focus is on Dutch. And about that: I plan to write my first post in Dutch sometime this week—and while I can't be completely sure, I have a lot of confidence that this will help me learn even more of the magnificent Dutch language.

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Image: A page from my Dutch notebook