And a point a member mentioned in another thread:
mcthulhu wrote:I did have formal training in a few languages, e.g. a double major in Russian and Spanish in college. Those proved to be good foundations for branching out into related languages on my own. Oddly enough, I think I spent the majority of my career working with languages in which I was self-taught, and in which I had gotten to the point where I could pass translation tests and become employable, even though my original motivation was just to be able to read books in those languages..
Like this gentleman, once I took some guided language classes, I feel more confident in my ability to self-learn. After some experimenting with what works and what I like, I'm confident in my ability to self-learn, even if the languages are different from ones I've been previously exposed to.
Is it normal for polyglots to take a class for their first language, and then branch out from there? Or do some pick up a German book at age seven and pour over it? How did you guys learn your first foreign language?