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Too Old To Learn a New Language? | ||
Tags: Age | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Aineko Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5448 days ago 238 posts - 442 votes  Speaks: Serbian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 33 of 38 23 April 2010 at 3:11am | IP Logged | ||
do they?:) it's been shown recently that, contrary to what has been a dogma in neurosciences for a long time - that there is no cell division, no production of new neurons in an adult brain - this is not true. Adult brain is producing new neurons BUT they die out if they are not used. And by used they do not mean doing sudoku but making serious mental efforts, like learning a new language. Edited by Aineko on 23 April 2010 at 3:12am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| delta910 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5875 days ago 267 posts - 313 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, German | Message 34 of 38 23 April 2010 at 11:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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You're never too old to learn anything and that includes languages.
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| pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5651 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 35 of 38 24 April 2010 at 12:19am | IP Logged | ||
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Let me see if I can turn this argument on its head. I propose that for most people, learning languages, and, for that matter, learning anything at all, declines noticeably after they reach, oh, 15 or 20 or 30 or so. Most of the people I come in contact with seem remarkably uninterested in learning new things, no matter what their age. Most people start contracting mentally and physically because they are content to let themselves be spoon-fed fast food, mass-market "entertainment," and material possessions in exchange for whatever job they spend their lives at. People simply shrivel up as if they have no interest in blossoming. Of course, the people on this list are exceptions! The very few people I know who are truly expanding--into languages, music, qi gong, dancing, and so on--range from young to truly old. Many of the old ones in their 70s and 80s are far "younger" in many ways--especially in their learning--than most of the 20- and 30-year-olds in our society. Can age take a toll? Sure. Does age have to cripple the essence of curiosity, persistence, and fascination that goes into learning? It can happen (an acquaintance of mine under 60 declined very quickly to care-home status with Alzheimer's recently), but the best course is to just keep on marching until you can't march anymore. Let's not become like those poor 20- and 30-year-olds who have already quit learning!
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| pfwillard Pro Member United States Joined 5699 days ago 169 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 36 of 38 25 April 2010 at 12:15am | IP Logged | ||
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Cardiovascular fitness and novelty. Even people who are developing a cognitive impairment can restore much of their functioning by walking on a treadmill and just doing something new every day, especially something social with a fun element to it. I think learning an L2 in a social environment with native speakers combined with an exercise program would be optimal for preserving brain health.
I don't think Russian is too hard and you will soon be able to read Turgenyev, Chekov, Gogol, and Dostoevsky. If you have Russian people to interact with, it will go quickly. More difficult is more fun because each step forward is more meaningful. 1 person has 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 37 of 38 26 April 2010 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Am I to believe that there is no such thing as aging of the brain and that there is no cognitive decline with age? Are our memory skills the same at 65 as at 25?
Do not misunderstand me. I am not a pessimist. Nor do I believe that at age 60 one is too old to do anything. As others have said here, a life of learning and activity will certainly carry one very far. All the literature that I've seen so far seems to say that the brain does age. What we do about this is another thing. 2 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 38 of 38 26 April 2010 at 2:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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We seem to be approaching the trenches here. :-) Could we agree that as a rule people's ability to learn Mandarin to native fluency or to train to be on the Olympic team in cross country skiing would diminish with age, but that if you keep fit, mentally and physically you would still be able to learn any language you want, and keep up any sport you like?
Would it be possible to agree on as well that both mentally and physically we might have to put in a bit more effort to achieve the same results as when we were younger? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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