Are straight swords harder to learn than curved?

I imagine it's easier to swing than stab, but I wouldn't say it makes using a saber easier to learn.

I'm askin' this question 'cause from wikipedia, I saw the line

"The dao were commonly issued to infantry due to the expense of and relatively greater amount of training required for the effective use of Chinese straight sword, or jian."

any historic or personal accounts? My own personal account with fencing I don't think is really enough, being that it's very very stylized, what I do.

Wow, straight swords can't be used to bludgeon. No matter what kind of sword you use, it takes a certain amount of training to gain the proper sense of edge alignment. Without it, the edge of your sword usually strikes the target at an angle (not perpendicularly) and your cut is wasted. That's also part of the explanation for the axiom that a sword, when wielded by an inexperienced man, is more dangerous for the wielder than for the intended target. If you don't hit cleanly, most likely the sword will bounce and...well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

My answer to the big question is: neither is more difficult to learn than the other. Each type of sword (in fact, each sword) has a specific method of employment based on what it was designed to do. The business of swordsmen is learning just what the sword does best and how to make it perform in the best way possible. No matter what the sword, it's not an easy task.

The cut is the more "natural" or "instinctive" action, but both cut and thrust must be learned, in order to be executed successfully.  Consider also that there are many types of cuts and thrusts, depending upon the type of sword and/or style of swordsmanship.  Curved swords with the cutting edge on the convex side are great for slashing strokes.  Curved swords with the cutting edge on the concave side are great choppers.  Straight swords typically won't be as effective in cutting as curved ones, but they can still be optimised for cutting to a certain degree--eg., look at 17th and 18th century Scottish basket hilts, which are very broad-bladed, and sometimes have "set" tangs, so that the blade tilts slightly forward (which, in turn, provides a "leading edge", much as Demon described with the guillotine).  In terms of thrusts, they can either be hooking-type thrusts that are typically performed with swords that are held in a "fist" or "hammer" grip, or they can be straighter thrusts "within compass", where the blade and arm are in-line, as with rapiers and smallswords.