Is it possible to learn a language in college when you have had no exposure it before?

Question

I'm fluent in Spanish, but I want to learn French or Italian when I go to college. I haven't had exposure to any. Is it possible to become fluent in another language that you haven't learned until you started when you were 18?

Answer 1

Yes, of course it is! I learned to read and write Spanish in college (but my pronunciation is poor), having never tried to learn it prior to that tme. And I was 28 when I entered college.

I had learned Latin in high school some years prior to that, but never Spanish.

It was a bit harder for me to do it, but I did it.

I wanted to do it to be able to read Mystical Realism pieces by Spanish authors, since I was a Lit major; there were good translations, but I wanted to read them in their original language.

It has been 12 years since then, but I bet if I put my mind to it, I could start doing it again without much trouble. Some of it never leaves you even if you don't become fluent.

And I bet if you, a person who appears to be bilingual already, took the courses all thru college, not just for one year, you could become fluent if you tried hard at it.

Besides, French, Italian and Spanish will share some commonalities, being Romance Languages with common Latin origins and root words.

You may find it easier than you think.


Go for it!

Answer 2

Those other people don't know what they're talking about. You can learn a language at any age, it's just harder as you get older. College classes are fast-paced and they expect you to do your homework and work hard to learn the language. Luckily for you, Spanish is a language that is similar to French or Italian (all Romantic languages from the same family of languages). There will be lots of words that are similar to Spanish and you should be able to pick up on them pretty quickly. If you want to do it, go for it, there's nothing that can open doors for you faster than learning another language. Work hard and good luck!

Answer 3

sure and they are able to parent among the 2 languages too however I'm now not definite if it will confuse them while they grow older or now not, I simply heard on television that they are able to be trained 2 languages even though......I feel it was once the National Geographic channel or might be the Science channel or one of the most different studying channels. Children beneath 7 soak up languages good. I feel the one factor I'd endorse could be not to talk Spanglish and to split the 2 and even have one mother or father talk Spanish and the opposite English. If you talk Spanglish to a child developing up they are going to get pressured. My mom handiest knew a few phrases in Chomorro (language spoken on Guam) and taught it to my brothers and I (handiest the unhealthy phrases) and I could slip as a child and say them to others and they might supply me bizarre appears....took me a couple of seconds to determine why :) I nonetheless uncover myself as an grownup pronouncing whatever is "matapen" for "bland" tasting.

Answer 4

If you already speak another Romance language (Spanish) it shouldn't be that hard for you. Since they have the same Latin roots, it wouldn't be like trying to learn Finnish or something else totally different.

Answer 5

Yes. Those langauges are all Romance langauges so you will fifnd lots of similarities between them. I speak English, French and German and started learning Chinese for my major at 18 which has been going very well so far. Good luck and it'll look great on your CV.

Answer 6

Yes it is. I learned spanish while I was in college

Answer 7

Of course.
You can do anyhting you set your mind to do.

Answer 8

No you have to go to the land

Answer 9

maybe check it out