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Is 19 too old? | ||
Tags: Age | Learning Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| wyk_snfchiu Triglot Newbie Canada Joined 5696 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English, Mandarin, Cantonese* Studies: French | Message 25 of 35 12 June 2009 at 6:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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I used to speak English natively as a child. Then I left Canada when I was 8. Ten years later (age 19) I'm back. My English sucked at first, but after one year I'd say I'm pretty fluent, probably at a near-native level. I'd say if you want to learn Vietnamese again it would be easiest.
But if it's Mandarin or something else, don't expect that you can achieve native fluency any time soon. (Ask any foreign immigrant you know. Those that came in their 20s and probably stayed in the country for decades. Even if they're fluent, they'll always be noticed by their accent. I'd say it's hard.) Of course it's never too late to learn a language. But set realistic goals. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zeitgeist21 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5647 days ago 156 posts - 192 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 26 of 35 15 June 2009 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't think it's even the age that stops you learning passively but the situation. When you're a baby you'll be completely immersed and people will put up with you and spend time with you every day even though the only way you can communicate with them is smiling, screaming and spitting =P
And that lasts years... Kids don't learn that quickly and they hear sooo much of the language, I've heard of some odd situations where people have managed to learn native accents. Usually though it's through mass exposure to the spoken language, without any speech, reading or thinking which reinforces bad accents. FairyFountain's English learning log almost proves it... Edited by WillH on 15 June 2009 at 2:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6705 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 27 of 35 15 June 2009 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Unless you get Alzheimer or die you can go on forever learning new languages (said by a sarcastic 55 year old geriatric with one-and-a-half foot in the grave who can't even see that he is too senile to learn anything new). The question is whether you are likely to try unless you already have learnt at least one new language earlier in your life - but that's more a question of attitute than of capacity.
Edited by Iversen on 16 June 2009 at 3:30am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maritimeguy Triglot Newbie Canada Joined 5643 days ago 18 posts - 19 votes Speaks: French, English*, German | Message 28 of 35 15 June 2009 at 11:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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Don't be so silly.Please.
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| heartnsoul Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5723 days ago 45 posts - 47 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, German, Greek | Message 30 of 35 16 June 2009 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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You are definitely not too old. I've heard that 25 is the age where most people start losing their language learning capacity... but I'm not sure I believe that. I am 19 myself. I am learning Italian, French, Modern Greek, and German... not all at the same pace and I'm at different levels with each but I feel like it's not something that is over my head (to bring the conversation full circle, of sorts) just yet, so I'm going to continue with them. Languages are something you can carry with you all your life... speaking another language is a very useful skill to have, regardless of your age.
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| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 31 of 35 16 June 2009 at 10:31pm | IP Logged | ||
Neither do I! Most people here are living testament to the reverse. Where did you hear that from? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6130 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 32 of 35 16 June 2009 at 11:33pm | IP Logged | ||
Hey, someone's talking about me :-p We voice chatted, so I hope I answered your questions. Oh, and 19 ain't too old. Not that I even had to say that. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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