[General] Is it too late to learn a new language in your 30s?

[RangsDrago]

According to a study released earlier this year, there is:

There is a critical cut-off age for learning a language fluently, according to research.

If you want to have native-like knowledge of English grammar, for example, you should ideally start before age 10, say the researchers.

People remain highly skilled learners until 17 or 18, when ability tails off.

The findings, in the journal Cognition, come from an online grammar test taken by nearly 670,000 people of different ages and nationalities.

The grammar quiz was posted on Facebook to get enough people to take part.

Questions tested if participants could determine whether a sentence written in English, such as: "Yesterday John wanted to won the race," was grammatically correct.

Users were asked their age and how long they had been learning English, and in what setting - had they moved to an English-speaking country, for example?

About 246,000 of the people who took the test had grown up speaking only English, while the rest were bi- or multilingual.

The most common native languages (excluding English) were Finnish, Turkish, German, Russian and Hungarian.

Most of the people who completed the quiz were in their 20s and 30s. The youngest age was about 10 and the oldest late 70s.

When the researchers analysed the data using a computer model, the best explanation for the findings was that grammar-learning was strongest in childhood, persists into teenage years and then drops at adulthood.

Learning a language is often said to be easy for children and to get more difficult as we age.

But late learners can still become proficient, if not seamlessly fluent, say the researchers.

It is unclear what causes the drop in the optimal learning rate seen at about age 18. The researchers suggest it could be because the brain becomes less changeable or adaptable in adulthood.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43947365

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...tists-second-education-best-age-a8330911.html

I have interest learning another language to the point where I would like become fluent in it, but at age over 30 it appears I might already be over the hill?

Has anyone had any experience of learning a new language late in their life and have had success?

 

[jutfrank]

It really depends on what you mean by 'fluent', which is a very misunderstood word. If 'fluent' means that another person would not be able to tell that you are a non-native-speaker, then no, it is extremely unlikely. But if 'fluent' just means 'very good', then yes, this is achievable.

 

[Skrej]

Although it's well known and documented that younger = easier, it means just that - easier, not impossible.

I teach ESL at an adult education center, so all of our students are at least 18, but we've had students all the way up to the early 80's. Unofficially, I'd guesstimate our average age to be somewhere around the early 30's. I've had students in their mid 40's and 50's learn faster than students in their 20's, and vice versa.

I personally don't think age plays as big a role in adults as do other factors such as determination, prior exposure, study skills, willingness to practice, willingness to risk errors, personality, overall mindset, and a whole host of similar factors.

Part of the problem is that as we age, we grow cautious and less willing to take risks (a survival instinct we often lack in our youth), but something that can be a hindrance from an educational standpoint.

One thing I can guarantee is that regardless of age, those who practice the most will learn the fastest. Time and time again, I notice that the ones who continue to speak to each other in their native language don't develop language skills as fast as those who use their English for even just casual conversation in class. Others just refuse to use it even when I gently suggest they speak English instead of L1 in class.

 

[Tdol]

I came to Asia in my early forties and I am now in my mid-fifties. In that time, I have lived in a number of countries and learned a number of languages to some degree. I have to say that it gets harder each time as I have less memory available and starting from scratch becomes more difficult. However, I have learned to read Lao, a non-Roman alphabet recently, so it is possible to make progress beyond a certain age. I change country every few years, so I never get that expert, and it gets harder to start with the grind of learning new numbers, etc, as the very basics. But that shouldn't stop you from trying.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hmm, I don't know! I was fluent in French when I was 5 years old, but that's only because both my parents are fluent French speakers. However, my French is now pretty terrible. I studied German for just two years at school, from the age of 14 to the age of 16 and, bizarrely, I remember almost everything I learnt.

I went to Italian evening classes for year when I was about 32 and, even though I visited Rome twice a year so I had the opportunity to listen and practice, I really didn't do well.

I moved to Madrid when I was 40 and picked up Spanish really easily! I still find it one of the easiest languages to understand and speak. Part of me thinks that's because it's closely related to French so my history of French speaking has come in very handy. Having said that, I thought Italian was fairly close to French but that didn't seem to be the case.

I can't back this up with any scientific evidence but I think that some people are linguistically gifted and some of those people have a particular talent for certain languages. I definitely feel like that is the case for me.

I know someone who speaks 12 languages fluently. He has never lived in any of the relevant countries - he is just a linguistic genius!