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Polyglot after 20? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 17 of 57 19 December 2006 at 4:21pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't think anyone suggested it'd be a brick wall effect. In fact, the use of the word "fade" sort of implies otherwise... Personally, I don't think that the brain loses the language acquisition device (the mere fact that you can learn to use correct grammar without having learned the rules, but simply having read or heard a lot of sentences, sort of points that way), but we do lose the willingness to spend four years immersed in the language without speaking a word. Language acquisition the way a child learns is pretty inefficient. If you learn the way adults do, that is, study grammar, memorize vocabulary, all that jazz, the youngsters have no advantages, except for the extra time (which they spoil by running around in the mud instead of learning languages, those idiots). I started studying French when I was 12, and kept on doing it until 18, and I still couldn't speak in anything but the present tense (and hardly even that). At my present age of 23, I took a four-months course in French, and now I'm fluent (albeit basically so). Ari junior ain't got nuthin' on me. The other notions of having less time left if you're old still apply, of course. But you can learn a new language in a year if you study hard, so learning ten languages before you die should be accomplishable even if you're a monoglot until your fiftieth birthday. But it'll take a lot of work, and if you haven't excercised your brain at all in your life, it might be too weak to make it. A healthy fifty-year-old brain should be able to learn ten languages before it kicks the bucket, however, barring any unforseen traffic or cardiovascular accidents. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Silvestris Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6563 days ago 131 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, Polish*, German | Message 18 of 57 01 January 2007 at 8:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Bravo Ari! A very articulate and interesting post. I don't think I have anything more to add.
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| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6549 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 19 of 57 29 January 2007 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's possible to learn languages quite well after 20. I learned Spanish when I was 12, but my 3rd language was Swahili, at 38. I learned Thai at 42, Japanese at 44, and I'm working on Mandarin at the age of 45.
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| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6867 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 20 of 57 30 January 2007 at 1:59am | IP Logged | ||
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What method have you used to learn these languages, leosmith?
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| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6549 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 21 of 57 30 January 2007 at 10:39am | IP Logged | ||
A little bit of everything, which was good because I found out what works for me. Here is the method I'm using for Mandarin, which I will probably use for all future languages, in roughly this order. 1. Pimsleur 2. Add 2000 vocabulary words asap, without worrying about perfect understanding. 3. Hire a tutor for conversation only, writing down all vocabulary and memorizing before the next lesson. Try to do five 1hr classes per week for 4 to 8 weeks. 4. Work through a really good but brief text that covers all the basic grammar. 5. Add vocabulary (if marrying) 6. Read, read, read (if marrying) Special tools: A. Supermemo. All vocabulary should be entered after it has been initially memorized. Sample sentences of all grammar points, and words with confusing usage should also be entered. B. Self-recordings. Record all sentences in supermemo; play during commute. C. Non-Roman script to be learned out of context, with workbooks and such, at an early stage. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that's about it. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| adoggie Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6532 days ago 160 posts - 159 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese* Studies: German, Russian, French | Message 22 of 57 31 January 2007 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I feel that it is definitely feasible to learn any language after the mysterious age of 20. I, for instance, am currently very busy with school work and preparation for medical school, and therefore cannot devote as much time as I would like into learning new languages. I am planning, however, to focus a lot more of my time on various languages once I finish my residency, etc. Actually, I am planning on learning approximately 10 languages - which is just a target number.
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 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5846 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 23 of 57 28 September 2009 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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POLYGLOT AFTER AGE 20? - YES, PLEASE!!!
Let me give you my personal example: 1. I was 21 when I started learning Dutch. 2. I was 24 when I started learning Italian. 3. I was 25 when I realized that I have a kind of language talent. 4. I was 31 when I started learning Esperanto 5. I was 32 when I started learning Spanish 6. I was 33 when I started learning Turkish and 46 when I restarted learning it. 7. I was 40 when I started learning Danish and I will be 48 when I will restart learning it. When I was under 20 years old, I wasn't a polyglot and I would have never got the idea of becoming one. Languages weren't so important for me at that time. Is this encouraging for people here, who are older than 20? Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 03 December 2012 at 9:23am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6371 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes Speaks: English* | Message 24 of 57 29 September 2009 at 7:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't think there are many polyglots under 20. More often than not they learned
most of their languages at least partly after 20. If you know three languages by 20 then it'll be easier to pick up another 6 within the same language families and you have a head start, of course, but it's not necessary. I'm 19 and I speak French fairly well and can hold a conversation in German - I also have some knowledge of Japanese. I plan to learn at least 6 languages during the course of my life, so I'll be one such person. Edited by zerothinking on 29 September 2009 at 7:53am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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