English is my second language. Let me tell you something, English is very hard to learn. To me, it is a very disorganized language that seems like it was designed by a committee. A very drunk and disorderly committee. The rules of grammar and spelling frequently contradict itself. Often, the exceptions are as numerous as the rules.
That's French you're describing there.
At least that's how it seemed to me in school. English on the other hand was a lot easier.
I don't think you can generalize that way and label certain languages easy or hard to learn, it probably depends on how your native language has influenced your brain structure for languages, on the circumstances in which you try to learn another language (I didn't really get along with my French teacher, I don't think that helped) and many other things.
(my native language is German)
Only through hard work and perseverance can one truly suffer.