Can an old dog learn new tricks?

How hard is it for an old guy (40+) to learn a new language? Especially when there's no real motivation beyond academic curiousity to do so?

Your problem is your lack of motivation not your age. Give it a try. I think there is a French saying that goes "l'apetit vient en mangeant." To sustain your activity you will need some interesting content. What language are you going after?

I wonder if its possible for a native speak to learn a new accent, in his native language. I've noticed that at times I do not pronounce the t's at the end of words.

At any age, your motivation is among the crucial factors. I'd say "academic curiosity" isn't at all bad as a reason to start learning.

The assumption that adults can't achieve high levels of proficiency in a second language is deeply entrenched in the applied linguistic circles, but is currently being proven wrong.

Steve K:
Probably Spanish, since it's the second most popular language in the US, and probably one of the easiest to learn.

At any age, motivation is the key factor determining success or failure in language acquisition. Chronological age doesn't matter at all.

A 99 year old can't learn a second language as well as a 10 year old. Biological limitations eventually set in.

A motivated 99 year old will outdo a non motivated 10 year old assuming both have their full mental capactities. From a practical point of view Mxsmanic is right.

Cro

I recommend you avoid schools. Go to a book store and buy one or two "TEach yourself Spanish " books with CD. The less English on the CD the better. Listen and read and learn the words from chapter 1 to the end. Do not spend too much time on the grammatical explanations of forms or declensions etc. Just listen and read from the beginning to the end and then go back to the beginning again and start all over again. Do it every day till you are tired of it. Listen on a portable CD player over and over at least 60 minutes a day, 6 daysd out of 7. Then take another beginner book and CD series and do the same. After one month hire a native speaker tutor. Speak to him or her once a week. Keep listening and reading. In 2-3 months you will have a basic conversational ability.

To get further you will need to read a lot. Download Babylon or some online dictionary and read on the Web. You will also find downloadable sound files that you can listen to on your MP3 player.

What is missing is a systematic way to build up words and phrases from your reading and listening. You can try Super memo or in 6 months come to The Linguist, by which time we hope to have Spanish available.

As soon as you are comfortable get yourself some Spanish speaking friends, watch a bit of Spanish TV or go to Mexico. That will stimulate you to try even harder.

A motivated 99 year old will not outdo a motivated 10 year old. As you age you wear and tear in every which way physically and mentally. That's the realistic view.

Bob,

What is your point? OK Lets limit it to people under 75. Age is not as big a factor in language learning as motivation. I am a better language learner today at 59 than I was at a teen-ager. I recently took on Korean and did was able to converse within 2 months, that is a lot better than I remember doing in French in high school despete years of schooling. I know how to learn today, and I am more motivated.

With your exposure to so many languages over so many years, you could learn Martian in 2 weeks. It's a case of an old dog reusing his bag of accumulated old tricks. :-) The topic is about learning new tricks.

Mxsmanic was the one who said chronological age doesn't matter at all. My old vicar was also good at making radical statements that degenerated into fanciful ideas. I didn't hang around long enough to see what would come.

Well, I do think attitude accounts for a lot...

I started learning Spanish when I was six or seven and continued study till I finished high school, so that's a good ten years. I was not very motivated to learn it beyond the necessities like "Where is the bathroom?" (Donde esta el bano) "How are you? I'm fine" (Como estas? Soy muy bien) and "Help" (Ayuto)

In college, I began to see a man from Italy. I began to learn it, very motivated, and after he proposed my motivation only increased (because how else was I to speak to my in-laws?!). In less than a year, my Italian had improved over and beyond my Spanish. It's actually replaced much of it too, but that's another story.

I didn't believe that just because I was older now, I couldn't learn a new language. If I had been motivated when I was six or seven, might I have learned Spanish better? Perhaps, but why dwell on the past? You CAN teach an old dog new tricks. The question is of willingness and an attitude of "Why bother, I can't even do it well because I'm not a youngster" won't help. Who cares what they say? Prove them wrong!

Hi every one out there, I've been following this forum for some time now and never had the nerve to post anything, that was till now,and just because this very post hit home wit me. I'm 39 right now and I've been learning English for a decade, originally from a spanish speaking country, highly motivated and very focus on my goals. I must tell you, when I first started learning the language I used to read new words once and then remember then for ages without seeing them again, the truth now, I have to do it twice and even three times to memorize the words, so I must confess it is harder now than ten years ago even though I'm more motivated and have more experience now.

And tiffany !! (estoy muy bien) and (ayuda) would be the correct translations.

rich7, thank you for correcting my Spanish. I translate backwards from Italian now because I've forgotten so much Spanish! (Ashamed to admit. Ten years down the drain) If you wanted it in Italian though... ::wink::