This is my first post on Stack Exchange, and I apologize if it is off topic, but I would really appreciate some feedback. I decided I want to give math another shot, and picked up a book called Langs Basic Mathematics and I've been really struggling with it. I find it hard to work through, and find it difficult to apply the theory I've learned to solve problems as well as writing proofs. I've spent approximately 80 hours and completed 7 chapters of the book out of 17. Is that a reasonable pace to be learning math? I'm essentially wondering whether it is worth pursuing if my pace is so slow and I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up in a formal setting.
I would really love some feedback. Thanks
I would say that "speed" is not a good measure at all of one's aptitude for learning math. Especially in this context. Reading a 400-500 page text book and processing all of the information it contains can take a long time. Much longer than 40 hours. Also, if there is something that seems like it is too hard to understand without spending a ton of time on it, it may just be an indication that there are some (potentially) unstated bits of background knowledge that you haven't been exposed to or learned yet. Part of the self-learning process is figuring out what those things are and finding the resources that can help you learn them.