Is it possible to learn a second language any time in our lives?

Question

What might be some of the enhancers? What might be some of the inhibitors? What is your personal view? What do the researchers say about this topic?

Answer 1

Sure why not?

Answer 2

Yes, absolutely. If you live in the USA and want to learn a foreign language surrounded by teenagers and adults of all ages, enroll in a class at a local community college. It's a lot of fun to learn a foreign language with a mixed group of people of various ages and walks of life.

The main inhibitor is that the vocabulary utilized is often based upon the needs of the person and the developmental level of the person. This means that teenagers might learn different vocabulary than an older retiree might learn due to their different needs and uses for the language. This is not necessarily a problem. It is only a problem if you take a vacation from the language and years later revisit the language...

The biggest benefit of learning a language as an adult is that if you have had a lot of education and life experience then you can learn vocabulary quickly without needing to learn what the words really mean (definitions, context, and use). If you have had a lot of writing, public speaking experience, and know your own grammar, then you will find it easier to learn another language because you are an expert at your own in terms of competencies and literacy. For example, in my community college class, there were two teenagers. One was double enrolled in high school and the other was a 16 year old freshman. Both were agonizing over English assignments (their mother tongue) and thought that writing a paper of a couple of pages for English class was a lot of work. Others who were older and had already graduated from college were able to write longer essays in the foreign language because writing in general was less intimidating AND they knew the technical aspects on how to write an essay and paper.

The beauty of learning a second language in youth is that there is no hurry up and learn the language aspect... The person is given years to learn the language to an adult context. As an adult learning a second language, it becomes overwhelming to think of everything that I learned in English I don't know in the foreign language... There's a sense of urgency to learn the language to catch up with the English proficiency. It's like the adult is behind and the youth has time to learn...

Answer 3

yes, of course. My first language was French, but later on my step-dad taught me english, i speak both of them with no accent, and perfectly, i know a lot of Spanish, a little Japanese and Italian. e-mail me if u need more help :)