How does learning English (and teaching, if you know) compare to difficulties in learning or teaching German and French?
I don't know from personal experience (I was raised in a bilingual family), but the impression I got was that English was a bit easier than French and German, something like:
Russian, Arabic > French, German > English > Spanish, spoken Mandarin > Esperanto
Hmm, that seems somewhat right (though it probably varies for individuals depending of the starting language).
One of the difficult aspects of English that native speakers tend to underestimate is verbs with particles, like "give in", "give out", "give up" etc. that...
As far as I can tell, there never has been a LW-meetup in a german-speaking country. This is crazy!
There should be enough Lesswrongers from Germany, Austria or Switzerland to achieve a reasonable group size!
To be a bit more specific, how about meeting in Munich? It's relatively in the middle of the three countries, but it's fine if you propose another city!
I'm not sure about the date, but how about sometime in July or August? We would have plenty of time until then. But I'm happy if you propose another date!
I don't know if I'm merely shouting in the void, but I hope some aspiring rationalists are out there!
So If you're interested in such a meeting, please make a comment!
Added: Oh, and if you are not from a German-speaking country you are welcome, too!