I like Russian, because of its richness and flexibility. By the way, this is exactly the reason why some people consider it difficult. Here Russian shares the same fate as e.g. German and Arabic. The relative complexity of these languages makes learning a bit harder only in the beginning. But soon it becomes extremely rewarding , at least for those who aim at understanding, because when you understand the system you can pretty much improvise a lot of words and expressions, which is giving you access to things you did not explicitly study before. You can master more language than you actually studied.

In an image: You can sail the ocean -- upto the horizon and beyond -- without having studied each and every drop of water beforehand.

This contrasts to languages like English and Japanese where everything is about knowing. There, the margin for improvisation is quite limited. Contrary to Japanese where it is commonly accepted that we are dealing with a difficult language, there exists the myth that English were easy.

As for Russian, a person with brains and emotions (and, of course, the habit to use these assets in dealing with the language) will find Russian easier than English. Why? Now probably many people will protest. But just think at what early age you usually start learning English, and how many hours of lessons your education system provides you with. And also, so many English languages resources are around you: music, films, internet and computers... If you had the same opportunity with Russian you certainly would reach the same level of language in the same time, or probably in much less time.

Russian is just great! And, Russian is much easier than you think. Love it, use your brain and open your heart, and it belongs to you.

I recently wrote a comment on Portuguese that gave my honest opinion and it has been downvoted because I don't like Portuguese. It will be interesting to see how this comment is received.

I have no practical reason to learn Russian right now because I don't visit Russia and I don't currently know any Russians. However, I think that aesthetically Russian is a very attractive language. I'm discovering that there is something pleasing about the sounds of Slavic languages, and I think Russian might be the most pleasing to listen to. Russia has such a rich and interesting culture and that is another reason to learn. The Death of Ivan Ilich is one of the most wonderful pieces of writing, in English, and I imagine that it can only be better in Russian. Also, Russian is used as a second language in a lot of countries, and so it might be useful for travel.

When I have the time, I would be happy to try to learn.