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Different languages represent different problems. European languages like German and Slavic languages tend to have very complicated grammar. Basque and Gaelic are very different from all other languages. Asian languages like all the Chinese languages and Vietnamese have four to eight tones. That means that what for Western ears sounds the same can actually be up to 8 different sounds. For example in Mandarin first tone "ma" means mother, second tone "ma" means hemp, third tone "ma" is a word that is placed at the end of a sentence to indicate a question, and fourth tone "ma" means to insult (among other additional meanings). This represents both a challenge for understanding others, as well as for being understood. In English or German you can always understand a foreigner, even if the pronounciation is no good at all.
Some languages are extremely easy to learn. For example every foreigner I know who has lived in Indonesia for a short time can speak some Indonesian. However, the same persons go to live in Vietnam and, after five years, only know how to say thank you. The main reason being that they get frustrated because when they start out no native speaker understands a single word they are saying and they quit learning very soon.
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