[turboponyy]

I speak two languages, one of which is English. I learned them in my early formational years, so I wouldn't consider myself to have learned them using "active" memorization. I was also conversational in Finnish as a child, though I've since completely forgotten the language.

Learning new languages no doubt involves a lot of memorization no matter which way you look at it, but I think you'd agree that the "active" kind is much more mentally taxing than the passive "immersion" kind, the latter of which I take no issue with. I also don't contend that learning a new language as an adult necessarily involves active rote learning.

I have had to learn other languages at school, including ones with non-Latin writing systems. It did involve a lot of rote learning, which I did to pass the classes, shortly after which I forgot everything. I personally don't value learning new languages, an opinion which I realize might come across as a bit uncultured.