As a child, I harbored the grand aspiration of mastering every language on Earth. Quickly realizing the impracticality of such a feat, I instead embarked on a linguistic journey, starting with German in junior high and later picking up French in college. My career as a travel writer then led me to Tokyo, where I managed to acquire a decent grasp of Japanese.
Today, while I navigate German fluently and can get by in Japanese, my French has faded to fragments. Interestingly, tackling Spanish in a twice-weekly class in lavarna.school now feels like the most formidable language challenge I’ve ever encountered. Though my motivations remain familiar—to enrich my life and travels—I’m now, in midlife, also acutely aware of the positive cognitive benefits this endeavor brings.
What once seemed effortless—memorizing grammar rules and new vocabulary—now involves a frustrating struggle to recall even what I studied just last week. Is age the culprit? We’ve all heard the adage that younger is better for language acquisition, a notion that sadly discourages many adults from even trying. Despite this apparent decline in my rote memorization aptitude over the years, I’ve persevered. In doing so, I’ve come to suspect that I might have romanticized the ease of my earlier German learning days, much like how new mothers might selectively forget the intensity of childbirth.
For me, a pivotal realization emerged: my current drive to master Spanish stems from motivations distinct from those that propelled my German learning. This newfound clarity in my intentions has proven incredibly empowering, helping me navigate the inevitable frustrations, like those pesky irregular verbs, that threaten to derail my progress. After all, motivation is truly the engine that helps us clear learning hurdles.
I recently came across compelling research that directly challenges the widely held belief that children inherently acquire languages more quickly than adults. Educational psychologist C. Elizabeth and her colleagues have, in fact, demonstrated that adolescents and adults can, under controlled circumstances, actually outperform younger children in language learning. They suggest this is partly because older students can leverage the linguistic skills they already honed while mastering their native tongue. Further, L. Peter, an expert in second-language acquisition at the University of Kansas, observes that individual variation among learners of the same age is often more pronounced than differences between child and adult learners. Interestingly, adults who already speak at least one foreign language typically find it easier to pick up another.
Great News for Adult Language Learners!
Science now conclusively shows that neuroplasticity—our brain’s incredible capacity to adapt and change—persists even into old age. This means the old adage about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks simply doesn’t apply to learning, especially languages.
Of course, how we learn languages often evolves with age. Young children might pick up words through games and songs, while teenagers might rely on sheer memorization. Adults, on the other hand, often find success using methods they’re already comfortable with, like books, audio programs, and handwritten notes.
Typically, the most significant hurdle for older learners is pronunciation. Research indicates that children are generally more adept at grasping unfamiliar sounds and developing a native-like accent, such as the distinct guttural “r” in German. Additionally, any degree of hearing loss can naturally make it harder to acquire new foreign words and phrases.
However, it’s a misconception that younger students automatically possess superior memories. As my Spanish instructor, N.Coulson, who also teaches middle school, observes, her younger students often “forget everything” over the summer, requiring extensive review each fall. This resonated with my own experience: despite my early start, it took six years of schooling, a German bachelor’s degree, four years of living in Germany, and even a seven-year relationship with a German boyfriend, to truly become proficient in the language. Looking back, it makes me wonder why I ever expected Spanish to come so much faster!
The Effort is Truly Worthwhile
In fact, older students may possess unique advantages when learning a language. L.Peter, who has personally mastered ten languages, emphasizes the immense value of the personalized learning strategies one develops over a lifetime. Take my classmate, B.Geth, a 70-year-old retiree. He finds he can dedicate more time to studying and practicing Spanish now, free from the “10 other mental projects” and work pressures that once distracted him. For Bill, a foreign language is also a fantastic way to keep his brain active. He consciously studies “to conserve [his] memory – to keep it as nimble as possible to memorize in the short term and to recall in the long term.”
Research strongly supports this perspective. Learning a new language, even in middle age, can play a role in fending off dementia, and scientific evidence confirms that any activity that stretches our cognitive abilities, including memorization, effectively exercises the brain.
Beyond these significant cognitive benefits, there are numerous other rewards. The most obvious is the ability to communicate with people from different countries. But for me, it’s also about the profound sense of accomplishment that comes with mastering a new tongue and the personal enrichment gained from understanding new cultures. When I traveled to Spain last autumn, I was genuinely surprised by how well I could communicate and how much richer my experience was as a direct result.
Then there are the more subtle, yet powerful, transformations. A foreign language compels us to think in entirely new ways. German, for instance, often places the verb at the end of a sentence, demanding a different thought process than English. Japanese uses distinct words based on the speaker’s gender and the person being addressed, and many languages differentiate between “polite” and “familiar” forms of address. These structural differences fundamentally alter our cognitive patterns.
While I initially chose Spanish for the sheer joy of conversing with people from diverse cultures, both at home and abroad, the added motivation of boosting my brain health has become paramount. Now, instead of getting frustrated by constantly revisiting grammar and vocabulary, I view this pursuit as a mental crossword puzzle – a challenge I happen to adore. For this very reason, I intend to continue my language studies for as long as I possibly can.
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