I enjoy the challenge of learning new things.

The first fortnight of a language is mostly humiliation. You order coffee, the man answers at normal speed, and you understand two words, one of which is coffee.

Enjoyment lives on the far side of that, which is inconveniently arranged, because the far side is not visible from where you are standing. Everyone who now finds it a pleasure went through the same fortnight of sounding like a child.

The challenge is not that the interesting part is difficult. It is that the early part is embarrassing, and the embarrassing part only lasts a few weeks.