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Too Old To Learn a New Language? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| tsneds Newbie Cyprus Joined 6953 days ago 23 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Japanese | Message 17 of 38 27 February 2010 at 2:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Great vid by Steve Kauffman that relates to the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGuGdha3nBg 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| dangre37 Newbie United States Joined 5389 days ago 12 posts - 16 votes Studies: Russian | Message 19 of 38 27 February 2010 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Thank you for all the responses. I only discovered this excellent website a few days ago and have been finding it to be an excellent source of information about language learning.
I'm encouraged to believe that you are all correct in your observations that age does not need to present a difficulty in language learning. I also came across the book titled "Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course" by Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker. These authors specialize in studying second language acquisition and state that there is a false belief among casual observers that acquiring a second language is easier for younger people than for older people. They have stated categorically and cite numerous studies that refute this belief. Ability to learn a second language does not appear to be determined by age, but rather by motivation, and a number of other factors. This is very encouraging news to me, because the media are frequently painting the picture of older individuals as being less mentally able to learn new things. There is even the saying (in America, anyway): "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5422 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 20 of 38 28 February 2010 at 5:23am | IP Logged | ||||||||
1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| victor-osorio Diglot Groupie Venezuela Joined 5432 days ago 73 posts - 129 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Italian | Message 21 of 38 01 March 2010 at 1:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I think that what really happens is that mature people are less open to changes not that
they cannot change. There are lot of difficult things to achieve in life. I think learning a new language is one of them. Lots of people get frightened at these things and never try to do them because they think the won't be capable. For me, the important thing is to try. I know lot of people who have years trying to learn English and haven't learn much. But they definitely know SOME English, a lot more than people who have never tried. There's a worst feeling than the one of not achieving something: the feeling of one who hasn't even tried. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5430 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 22 of 38 02 March 2010 at 4:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I disagree with most of the opinions in this discussion. That is to say I believe it is much easier to learn a language at an early age and that learning a language becomes progressively harder with age.
Let me be clear. Age is not the only factor in determining the ability to learn a foreign language. But I think it does influence three factors. First of all, at a certain point, one's memory starts to decline. Of course, this can vary a lot individually, but I have read that for most people, their cognitive capabilities peak in their late twenties and then start a gradual decline. Many people start to notice some form of memory loss, especially short-term, in their 50's. In my opinion, this negatively impacts the ability to learn a language because memorization plays such an important role. A second area of age-related decline is certainly that of fine motor skills that are involved in learning to speak. We all know that children right up into their teens can learn to speak like a native very quickly. At the same time, we know that the vast majority of adults never achieve anything close to a native accent. Why? I believe that there are certain neurological processes that are at work during the youthful years and that after these years it's basically too late. I must add that I think similar processes are at work when it comes to learning to play a musical instrument. Finally, a third area, and more complex, is that of the ease of socialization that goes with the youthful years. When children are moved to a foreign country, they can easily find playmates and schoolmates that are basically little language teachers. When we remark that children pick up a language in a few months, this happens because the children are immediately immersed or caught up in the language. At an adult age, it is not as easy and it get harder with the years. At age fifty or sixty, one cannot simply start playing with neighbors as children do. True, age brings a maturity and a discipline that some young people do not have. And learning a language is a fascinating pursuit with some cognitive benefits to boot. It's never too late to learn. Sure, you can start studying a language or a musical instrument at any age. However, one should be realistic and recognize one's limitations. Edited by s_allard on 02 March 2010 at 4:37am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 23 of 38 21 April 2010 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I am in the same position, since I am also trying to learn Russian in my "adulthood", I'm closing in on 50 real fast.
I am however all with "s allard" on this one, based on my personal experience. I learned both Spanish and French when I was 11 and 14, and that was a walk in the park. I could say what I needed in order to function within 3 weeks, I spoke well within 3 months, and was fluent in 6 months. I felt very confident in my ability to learn languages really fast. At the age of 30 I went to Poland for a 4 weeks' course, after having attended two evening courses at home. Cocky as I was, I felt certain that I would be up to speed after those 4 weeks, and it came as a shock to me that I was not. I learned quite a lot of Polish, but never to the level where I could say "I speak Polish". Now I have started again, with Russian, and this is when I am REALLY starting to feel my age. It takes for ever to learn vocabulary, I can repeat the same things over again 30 times and still not remember them. I put one of my Russian lessons on "repeat" for a whole afternoon, I swear I listened to it 40 times. And still I did not know it by heart. Where I learned Arabic and Hebrew alphabets in days when I was young, I have now been on and off Russian for a long time, and I am still feeling like I just started to learn to read. It is heartbrakingly frustrating. Does this mean I will give up? Nope. I am counting on having another 40 to 50 years to live, and at some point during those at least first 20-30 years I WILL learn Russian (and Polish, and Ukrainian, and, and...) I am however not so dillusional that I think that I will ever sound like a Russian, but hey, most of the Russians I have met speak with a heavy accent even after 20-30 years in Norway, so I do not think they would hold it against me. :-) Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 21 April 2010 at 11:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5847 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 24 of 38 21 April 2010 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I will be 49 in summer, so I am of the same age group as Solfrid Cristin. My study capacity is on the same level as it has always been and my study discipline has improved a lot. But I have - without pause - studied all my life long, so I am perfectly trained in learning - not only - languages. It's like Prof Arguelles says, if you keep studying all your life long, your capacity will not decline. So the training factor behind it is most essential, especially the more the age advances. I have never had a good memory, but it is still on the same level as it was in my teens and 20s.
I would assume that people around my age or older who notice some decline, haven't studied anything for years in-between. For me it's not a big deal to start with new languages at age ~ 50, the only thing I had to adapt to is the - for me - uncommon self-study situation. My personal fear for my "retirement age" is not that my intellectual, memory or study capacites could decline, but that my poverty might grow as much that I will not be able finance my language studies anymore. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 21 April 2010 at 8:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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