Question:
Although there are always exceptions to the rule it seems that once one
attains a certain age, learning a new language becomes very difficult
if not impossible. I was once fairly good in French and I can still get
by if I have to.
Recently I started a refresher course to improve my French. I find that
things I used to know are coming back to me, albeit much slower than I
had hoped. However, I am finding that learning newer elements of the
language to be more difficult than expected.
I was hoping to also learn a third language but I am wondering if I am
wasting my time in a futile endeavor. Also, as a speaker of English
who's second language is French what would be a logical choice for a
third language? By logical choice I suppose what I am really saying is
which language would be the easiest to learn and most useful
functionally.
Answer:
Well, if you truly believe this, then I can only suggest that you've
already defeated yourselfLosing a language once spoken well is no bad thing -- that just means
you haven't used it. I was once fairly good at French too, but now
could probably barely get very far at all.Perhaps the problem is with the refresher course. Is it compatible
with your learning styleHaitian Creole? Beautiful language. You could try Spanish -- at least
you'd have some Romance commonalities.
What is your reason for learning the language? A logical choice might
be Greek or Latin: they aren't too awful hard. All you really need to
concentrate on are grammar and lexicon and a whole world of original
ancient literature is opened up to you.
To answer the question in your subject line: the point at which
learning a new language becomes futile is the same moment you expel
your last breath on this Earth. Before that time, èvery moment spent
in sharpening your mind is time well spent, provided you enjoy the
activity involved. It could be music or puzzles or language learning.
Whatever floats your boat. To take an example from current events: the
Cardinal of Washington is retiring this month at age 75. He plans to
learn Arabic just for the heck of it. It will be his sixth language.
I'm in the middle of learning Tagalog and Waray-Waray (at the same
time). I'm taking it slow, but see absolutely no reason why there is
imposed some kind of limit on language learning.
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