Language Learning Difficulty Levels for English Speakers

I don't know about other governments, but the U.S. government's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the Department of State came up with the approximate difficulty levels of all major foreign languages for native English speakers several years back. I learned of this categorization of languages a few years back but I realized I've merely talked about it and haven't shared the information publicly yet. First, I read it in a book about foreign languages (for English speakers) and I found the list on government website. I tried to go back but it didn't come up, so I decided to post it on my blog.
Before I get into that, I'll give you some basic details. The languages are divided into 3 major levels or categories. 1 being the easiest and 3 being the most difficult. The weeks and class hours estimated by the FSI is to reach S3 and R3 proficiency levels, the U.S. proficiency levels similar to that provided in Europe. Here's my rough estimate, correct me if I'm wrong!Does that mean you can get to level B2/S3 in Danish within 6 months in the comfort of your own home? Sorry to burst your bubble (mine was), but it's probably not likely. These estimates are based on the classes that the FSI students are provided with. Who are these students. Well, generally they are middle age (think late 30s to 40s), probably already speak several other foreign languages and have a "talent" for formal language study. Not to mention that their classes size is at it's largest 6 students, meet for 25 hours per week with an additional 3 to 4 hours of directed self-study PER DAY. If you made learning Danish a part-time/full-time job for the next 6 months, sure, you could get to B2/S3... but do any of us have that kind of time or commitment? I suppose Not. I guess that's why for normal people like you and I, it takes us years to reach a certain level of proficiency. The most difficult language to learn for native English speakers according to the FSI? Japanese. Not hard to imagine, with their 3 writing systems (katakana, hiragana, kanji) and the "inversed" sentence structure, I guess it's no wonder that's considered the most difficult.
*Languages preceded by asterisks are typically somewhat more difficult for native English speakers to learn than other languages in the same category.

Today's Random Quiz:

You Are a Scrambled Egg

You are spontaneous and fun. You like to mix it up in life, and you are very flexible. You consider any day that surprises you to be a good day. You aren't big on planning and structure. You are an agreeable, happy person. You can get along with almost anyone, and you're pretty easy to please. You live a somewhat chaotic life, but things seem to work out for you in the end. Even when things are a mess, you come out fine at the other end.

What Kind of Eggs Are You?