i have no clue where the fuck people get this idea, it’s clearly nonsense since people pick up accents just from living in a different country for a year or two
Comment on Are some people just unable to become fluent in a foreign language?
Tracaine@lemmy.world 1 day ago
So what I’m gathering from this thread is that since I’m 42, I probably shouldn’t even try learning a new language? That’s reductive but more or less the energy I’m getting.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
starlinguk@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m 57 and learning German. I also have long covid brain and I’m in the menopause. I’m still managing to pick stuff up but I keep forgetting it when I actually have to speak German.
cacti@ani.social 1 day ago
garbagebagel@lemmy.world 1 day ago
At my work there is like a 70-year-old security guard who spends his 12-hour (pretty quiet) days learning new languages. I don’t know how his other languages are, but when he speaks Spanish to me, he does so extremely well. The only issue is that sometimes he gets mixed up and speaks Mandarin instead of Spanish to me but we’re not gonna fault him for that one.
To be fair, the man is a retired physiology professor so he’s been learning his whole life and is probably a pretty smart dude, but I’m sure if you apply yourself and enjoy learning, you wouldn’t have an issue at least getting the basics of another language.
AAA@feddit.org 1 day ago
It’s also bullshit. My parents (both 50+) are both learning English right now. Of course they’ll never be close to native speakers. But they are absolutely able to communicate to get around, well beyond the basics too.
It doesn’t get easier. But it also doesn’t get impossible. Motivation is a big step towards it.
starlinguk@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My in laws learned English in their seventies!