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Polyglot after 20? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6699 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes  Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 9 of 57 03 November 2006 at 10:24am | IP Logged | ||
No doubt about it. I'll bet many people would be surprised to find out how much time they could set aside for language learning. Fanatic mentions in his book how possible it is to find ten minutes here and there that you'd otherwise waste, sometimes unknowingly. But then again, does *everyone* share our passion for learning languages? The average person, American or otherwise, does not see an immediate need for learning a new language. Some may learn a language for work purposes but that does not always mean that they WANT to learn a new language. For many of us here, learning languages is a hobby. Some people are deeply fascinated by the linguistic aspects while others merely enjoy learning how to communicate with people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Some of us just learn a new language for the sake and sheer fun of it (myself included). Other people may not share our passion for foreign languages....that is their loss. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 6913 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 10 of 57 03 November 2006 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good point. Even though I keep thinking "so and so" could spend x hours learning a language with the amount of time they spend watching TV, some don't have that passion to learn a language. I'm glad I have the desire to learn languages.
Isn't the average American highest on the list of TV watchers? On the whole age 20 thing. Just the fact that one is 20 or older doesn't seem to disqualify someone from having excellent proficiency in a language. It just seems that more and more activities crowd out free time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6677 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 11 of 57 03 November 2006 at 6:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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Definitely, I think. I second that 20-year-olds have more time commitments that would cut into their language-study time, if that's what they choose to persue. There's no reason why an age (any age, in my opinion) should slam the door shut on the language-learning time-frame.
A lot of the people who learned languages before 20 were prodigies of some kind, it seems to me: Ziad Fazah, who could speak 54 by the age of 17, or Harold Williams, who spoke several by the age of 20 (I don't have the exact number, but he definitely qualified), and others I've read about who learned several as children. But these are more exceptions to the rule: not all of us are prodigies, but I think many of us may all have some of the same ingredients these people have. That they learned them at a young age proves one thing: that they learned them at a young age. Also sometimes I think that in a way, the language "chooses" the learner, by that I mean that if I were to learn any language I probably out to learn Arabic or Chinese, due to the current political nature of the world at present. But currently I don't feel interested enough in them. I will later, but for now I'm more interested in a language that means something more immediate to myself, like German or Japanese, or something like that. When the interest, or cravings, or whatever, for Arabic, Chinese, or whatever, strikes later down the road, then will I decide to invest the time, energy, and money in the resources to learn them. My point with all that is, sometimes people don't become interested enough until after 20 or so. Yet that doesn't mean they won't learn the language well. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 6913 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 12 of 57 03 November 2006 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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I also feel that the acquisition abilities of someone 20-25 years old is still quite close to someone 5 years younger as they're still past childhood. I became interested in languages when I was about 9, but I haven't become less able to learn as I've got older.
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| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 6824 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 57 03 November 2006 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree that age shouldn't be an obstacle, but I thought that memory and learning abilities tended to decrease when one approached the twilight of one's life. Perhaps there's an upper age limit for learning a language. Edited by patuco on 03 November 2006 at 6:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Aritaurus Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6383 days ago 197 posts - 204 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English*, Japanese, Mandarin Studies: Spanish | Message 14 of 57 25 November 2006 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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I think it definately is possible. It may not be as easy compared to learning these languages as a child but reasonably possible if you try. I know a lot of expatriates in Japan who can speak Japanese reasonably fluent after living there for a number years after they were twenty. Edited by Aritaurus on 25 November 2006 at 1:27am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6468 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 15 of 57 27 November 2006 at 7:51am | IP Logged | ||
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I think that it is quite possible for a person to learn a language well after 20 and even considerably later in life.
However, if you want to become a polyglot, to learn many languages, that's a major time commitment and you would logically need to start young. If you are fifty years old, you are less likely to be around long enough to learn ten new languages very well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Silvestris Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6373 days ago 131 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, Polish*, German | Message 16 of 57 08 December 2006 at 4:49am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, "use it or lose it"
Depending on which psychological school you subscribe to, we have a language aquisition device that is prominent in early childhood. It fades as you get older EXCEPT if you keep on using it. I don't see why someone who has been studying languages since they were 12 just suddenly hits a brick wall at midnight on their 20th or even 30th birthday. I think it has to do with free time, and I am not going to even believe for one moment that anyone younger than me could do a better job because they have a natural ability. But that's just me, and every language I learn gets slowly easier. You've already experienced grammar quirks in B language from when you studied A language, words from C and D languages are very similar, etc. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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