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Advantages/disadvantages mature learners | ||
Tags: Age | Learning Strategy | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5338 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 20 10 May 2011 at 10:25pm | IP Logged |
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We have often discussed whether you learn best as a child or as an adult. Once you are an adult, not to mention past your first youth, that discussion becomes purely academic, because you cannot travel back in time and become a child again. You just have to live with the age you have, and adapt your language studies to that.
I would however be interested in seeing what those of you who are mature learners see as advantages and disadvantages. Both to give ourselves a confidence boost, to learn better ways of using the advantages we have, and to reassure the younger learners that becoming older does not mean the end of language learning as we know it. We all have different circumstances, so what one person sees as an advantage may not be valid for someone else, but I would assume that there are at least some common traits. I'll start with my own: Advantages: . Better focus . More experience in learning languages . More languages I can draw upon for comparisons . More determination . More money for study materials than when I was a poor student . The possibility to travel anywhere I want (limited in time and resources of course) . More stamina when it comes to studying thing I find boring Disadvantages . Less time . Do not learn pronunciation so easily . Vocabulary don't seem to stick . More difficult to read small print . Not so easy to have prolonged stays in foreign countries Some of these may be personal, and not apply to others - so what are yours? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5673 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 20 10 May 2011 at 10:46pm | IP Logged |
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One advantage that I can think of is that I don't get quite as embarrassed when I make
stupid mistakes as I did when I was younger. I can just shrug my shoulders nowadays rather than feeling ashamed and wanting to run away and hide. One disadvantage is that most other students in language classes are half my age, so I have little in common with them. This makes me a bit of a loaner, and more focused on self-study than I would like. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6556 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 3 of 20 10 May 2011 at 10:47pm | IP Logged |
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Along with what you wrote
Advantages
Disadvantages
Hope that helps. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| wv girl Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5243 days ago 174 posts - 330 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 20 11 May 2011 at 12:17am | IP Logged |
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One disadvantage ... the vocabulary in my college classes centered around activities for 20 year olds! Sports,
parasailing, skateboarding! Not that you have to be 20 to do all those things, but writing an essay about the benefits of joining teams in college didn't exactly meet MY needs as 2nd language learner. Splog, you are right about the students being so much younger than you ... it can limit practice opportunities and things in common to discuss. Overall, I'd say the benefits of "experienced" (sounds so much nicer than older) language learners outweigh the disadvantages. The subjunctive? Never heard of it before starting my 1st foreign language, but encountering it in the 2nd was much less challenging. Yes, time is limited, but I can put what I have to better use on my own. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6706 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 5 of 20 11 May 2011 at 12:38am | IP Logged |
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Disadvantage:
Both our personality and our world-view have pretty much been formed. When we learn a new language, instead of using words as building blocks to frame our image of the world and ourselves, or as an expression of our thoughts and feelings, we find ourselves merely trying to find replacements for words and concepts we already know. There is no sense of discovery, or not as much. We learn the language but we often do not learn how to think about the world, something most young people are still going through when they are learning languages. Discovery gives the process an emotional tinge, and the words defined flavors because they mean more than just "if I want to say fish in French, I say poisson." Since other connections are not formed ("what is this delicious thing I just ate? Poisson? Marvelous!"), we don't have the intimate connection with the language that younger people do. Or at least the connection doesn't come as easily. Edited by Raincrowlee on 11 May 2011 at 12:39am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6383 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 20 11 May 2011 at 5:01am | IP Logged |
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The biggest difference for me is the lack of time. Everything else, good and bad, pales in comparison.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5434 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 7 of 20 11 May 2011 at 12:20pm | IP Logged |
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Not surprisingly, I would like to take issue with the way the question is framed. In my opinion, the question isn't really about being a mature (i.e. older) language learner. It's actually more about being in a learning situation where age imposes constraints and restrictions that are socially and culturally determined rather than biologically. Okay, I admit that this may be splitting hairs.
I agree with most of the observations so far, but hasten to add that they highlight more the learning environment rather than age per se. As some of us have certainly experienced here, learning a language at age 20 when, despite lack of funds, the sheer excitement of travel, discovering other cultures, and let's not forget the role of those almighty hormones when meeting attractive humans, all combine to make the learning process somewhat different from that of a 40-year old who is worried about mortgage payments, the rising cost of gas (petrol), marital difficulties and losing weight. I would also like to add that there is a huge difference in the learning environments in many parts of the world. I'm particularly jealous of Europeans who are able to jump in a car or hop on a train and be in a different language in a matter of hours. In some parts of Canada you could go practice your French for the day in Quebec, but it's not exactly the same as spending a day in Paris. It's not at all surprising that most North Americans have little interest in and little use for foreign languages. It's something that hardly exists for many of them. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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