What Does Age Have To Do With Learning A Foreign Language?

I learned Spanish when I was 22. I had graduated from college as a Math teacher and had no plans of ever being bilingual. I had taken 4 years of French in high school and hated it.

When I made the decision to study Spanish, no one believed me. (Just for reference, this was in 1982, a time when learning foreign languages wasn't a big deal in the US). Their reaction was along the lines of, "Your time has already come and gone." In other words, for others, age was a factor.

To make a long story short, I became fluent, got certified as a Spanish teacher and had a chance to quiet the naysayers.

What did I think back when people told me I had "missed the boat" as far as learning a foreign language was concerned? I usually got depressed and anxious. After all, I didn't know anyone else who had learned Spanish after graduating college.

I was influenced by what people said. I'm sure others in the same position ended up quitting. Luckily for me, I didn't.

A lot of time has passed since I learned Spanish. Nowadays, there are more and more people studying languages in Adult Ed. classes and online. Yet, I still hear a lot of comments from people who would love to speak another language but feel it's too late.

When I ask them what they mean by "it's too late," they usually come up with things like:

- your brain doesn't capture language after a certain age.
- your brain can't hear the language.
- your brain can't process as quickly, etc.

The list could go on and on. Unfortunately, when I ask them where they got their information, they don't have an answer. They don't know where they heard it but they are convinced it's true.

Perhaps if they knew of a study in 2001 by the Foreign Service Institute which found that adults have an advantage in becoming bilingual, they would change their minds. The reason is simple: Adults have already "learned how to learn."

According to the study, "A motivated adult with reasonably good language- learning skills in a good instructional program will develop a set of core grammatical structures and a range of useful vocabulary faster and more firmly than children will."

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that adults have an advantage but it is definitely not the disadvantage that so many believe it is.

Naturally, children have a more carefree attitude towards making mistakes and that helps them progress quicker. But any adult can adopt the same attitude a child has. After all, you ARE learning a second language! You're the one that is stretching yourself to learn something new. That should be a point of pride. And mistakes are part of the learning process.

In conclusion, if you are interested in learning a foreign language, make sure that you take into consideration the time you have, the interest level and the resources.

And don't think for a minute about your age!

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