My understanding is that Yiddish is mostly a combination of German and Hebrew. The word schlemazel is a good example.

I don’t see any connection between the two languages so it would just depend on what your brain can handle if you can study two languages at once.

Sure, but working on two languages at once is more than twice as hard as working on one. Somebody who has a natural gift for languages might not find it too tough. I think you’ve said that’s not you.

It’s not me.

I’m always best at learning a gateway language and then maybe a variation or dialect.
I might try Esperanto,if I can find a community of speakers over Amateur radio or someplace.

From what I am seeing now, both Yiddish and Esperanto hve thesame eastern-European, Slavic-like base, or Grammar rules. Just different words / Lexicon. Esperanto is relexified Yiddish, which is in turn a relexified Slavic language,

Relexification is language change by which one language changes its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with the lexicon of another language, without drastically changing the relexified language’s grammar.

If I could learn the rules of one language, which is where I have the most difficulty, I might be able to learn the vocabulary of the other.

Since languages don’t come easily to you, it might be wise for you to start with Esperanto. Natural languages are full of exceptions and idiosyncrasies. As a constructed language, Esperanto is bound to be more regular and predictable. That might help you gain a sense of the underlying structure and properties of language that could form a foundation for the study of other languages.

I have no direct knowledge of Esperanto, so this is not an expert’s recommendation, just a personal opinion.

It’s time to hear from Demosthenes.

I agree totally—learning of languages seems far more accessible now than it was 20–30 years ago—but Esperanto was designed to be an easy language for speakers of European languages. It would seem one could still study many cultures where it has influence or presence. Thanks.

Esperanto should be easy to learn for the reasons given.

I am curious about your interest in Yiddish. It was something of lengua franca among Jews from Eastern and Central Europe, although the number of speakers has been in decline. Its alphabet is Hebrew, as are many of the words. It also has a bit of German and some Slavic, particularly Polish. The Forward is a Yiddish language magazine, which my grandmother read regularly.

My family is Ashkenani and although I was never drawn to the urban, almost comic phrazes and quips, I do like the far Eastern European blend of Hebrew characters and medieval manuscripts and architecture—and the settlers on the American frontier in New York and Minnesota and so forth. When I get / got old, I always wanted to be like them—with a beard and celebrating the Jewish feast days. But I’m not really Yiddish enough, In fact, I’m closer to West Norden and Scandinavia I studied in College and Grad school