German was PITA, French was pretty easy but obviously I had a personal French teacher, and old lady who was amazing
I don't speak German at all anymore :/
(Given https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44001832, maybe it's because I learned French first?)
Until I moved to a new country and _wanted_ to learn the language, I could barely remember how to ask where the toilet was. Now that I'm invested and interested, things are much more sticky.
I believe this is why much of the world has latched on to learning English. There is so much content available that people _want_ to consume, that it becomes a hobby they are actually interested in, rather than a chore. As more and more people learn English, it becomes a positive feedback loop of content creation that nearly the entire planet can participate in.