To contrast - oh sure there are some obscure C++ language features you can only learn from a mountaintop guru, but there are obscure french features you can only learn in an isolated swiss township.

French is harder - but programming is also hard. One interesting contrast is that programming "languages" might be better placed as wide sweeping paradigms, with learning C++ if you know Java being closer to learning a Boston accent and learning PHP if you know Java maybe learning a new dialect.