Are women better at learning languages? (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

Are women better at learning languages?
Tags: Talent \| Gender \| Foreign Languages
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

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Serpent
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Message 65 of 76

11 October 2013 at 1:07am | IP Logged

And let's not forget what is always said when we discuss if a talent for languages even exists. There can't be a general talent for langs. Many successful learners have some sort of talent, but it can be many things! Some of the obvious ones are the pronunciation, the intonation, a great visual memory, the talents related to logic/finding patterns. etc. etc. etc.

Not to mention that some language+talent combinations give you a bigger advantage, like if you are learning e.g. Japanese and you have a "photographic" memory.

Edited by Serpent on 11 October 2013 at 1:10am
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Bao
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Message 66 of 76

11 October 2013 at 1:27am | IP Logged

Cavesa wrote:

(btw it is true that women in later 30ies are less fertile, not a myth. but it is not that bad until the 40 or so. worse are the genetic abnormalities. but at least we know quite a lot about those related to old mothers and they are often those that can be quite easily detected with the prenatal screening. what is totally underestimated is the trouble of old fathers which leads to significantly larger risk of small mutations de novo. some theories even claim that the rising % of some metabolic illnesses and similar things is due to rising % of old fathers (45-50 and more). sorry, couldn't help myself, bao :-) )

BBC report + publication
Actually, in Germany there are less babies with trisomy 21 born to mothers over 40 than to ones in their early 20s, because older women more routinely ask for prenatal screening and opt for abortion when a chromosomal anomaly is detected.
And, here women get to hear if they want a family, they should have a baby when they're around 30, because later their chances will be very bad. And in that version, it's not science anymore, it's a myth.
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Gemuse
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Message 67 of 76

11 October 2013 at 2:58am | IP Logged

Quote:

The chance of any chromosomal abnormality at the age of 20 is one in 500, he
says.

That increases to one in 400 at the age of 30, and one in 60-70 at age 40.

"Turning that on its head, it does mean that 59 out of 60 women aged 40 will have no
chromosomal problems in their baby at all."

So while it's harder for older women to get pregnant, and the chance of a
chromosomally abnormal child increases, these problems do not increase as sharply as we
fear - except perhaps for those trying IVF or artificial insemination.

A one on 60 chromosal abnormality chance is a huge risk IMHO.
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Gemuse
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Message 68 of 76

11 October 2013 at 3:01am | IP Logged

Cavesa wrote:

Girls often don't do science not because of not being just as gifted. They are often not
that motivated.

I was arguing the same point, but I got bashed for it :-\
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cathrynm
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Message 69 of 76

11 October 2013 at 3:29am | IP Logged

I was an engineering major in college. Not quite science, but the lifestyle in college is similar. It's like being in the army, really. Just no free time. And, you have to consistently want it, at least from high school on. If you're entering college and you don't know, for example, how to solve indefinite integrals, well, it's going to be pretty rough, maybe an entire extra year to catch up? I chatted with some woman online, she was in college, wanting to take Electrical Engineering, but she was studying Algebra in Jr. College. I try to be encouraging, really, I'm thinking, this is a massively rough road from that point.
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Serpent
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Message 70 of 76

11 October 2013 at 4:16am | IP Logged

Gemuse wrote:

Cavesa wrote:

Girls often don't do science not because of not being just as gifted. They are often not
that motivated.

I was arguing the same point, but I got bashed for it :-\

You expressed it in a way that confirms the stereotypes instead of defying them. Maybe for you there's no difference between what you and other posters say, but for them there is, especially for women.
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newyorkeric
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Message 71 of 76

11 October 2013 at 4:28am | IP Logged

We're way off topic now, and tempers are starting to flare. So let's rein it in a bit, eh?
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vonPeterhof
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Message 72 of 76

11 October 2013 at 6:25am | IP Logged

beano wrote:

...Is it from the game dialogue (which surely must be limited?)...

That would depend on the genre. RPGs (role-playing games) tend do be very dialogue heavy and have dialogue choices that actually affect the gameplay, while things like visual novels and dating sims consist of pretty much nothing but dialogue, although those are a bit of a niche market. Here's an interesting thread that goes into more detail about which games are better for language learning.

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