My father speaks perfect Spanish and he tried to teach me the language, but I did not like it or want to use it. I always thought I was not able to learn a foreign language but realized that it was more that I was being forced to learn it. I recently felt brave enough to try learning another language again, but this time I will do it for my own reasons. Chinese looks and sounds so different from Western and European languages that knowing how to speak it is like knowing a secret that not very many Americans know. I have learned other complicated skills, like flying an airplane, by using lots of self-study and lessons from experts. That took lots of time and effort but I succeeded. I think the same type of efforts can help me learn a complicated skill like Chinese.