I agree that everyone likely has to learn more than one language in the course of their life, but the difficulty of learning language N is typically more than l

I agree that everyone likely has to learn more than one language in the course of their life, but the difficulty of learning language N is typically more than learning language N+1. Therefore I believe that it is productive to start beginners off with a language which is: 1) as approachable as possible 2) as useful as possible Such that the value of that first, most difficult learning experience is maximized and the challenge is minimized.