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Is there a critical period for learning a language?

Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve 124 views

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🇨🇦 We Canadians & Americans know we generally are bad at learning 2nd languages, yet many of our grandparents learnt English as a 2nd language The world dominance of English is a major factor
Comment from : @DavidGS66

When was the last time a toddler explained the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer to you?
Comment from : @vmizzell

I think you should differentiate between Textbook/Academic Language and Daily LanguagebrYou could learn a language very well without stepping on that land, but you could only learn Textbook Language, and it would be very hard for you to learn Daily Language
Comment from : @caoeason9102

Supposedly, in most people, the brain undergoes a certain pruning process during puberty Apparently, the purpose is to get rid of connections that are not needed, and make the brain more efficientbrbrThere are people who never really undergo this type of pruning I think in particular of people on the autism spectrum These people can often retain an almost childlike ability to learn foreign languages even into late middle age, or even longerbrbrI say "almost childlike", because in the meantime, they also develop more adult learning strategies, which in combination with what they have retained from childhood, can permit them to learn very fast indeedbrbrApparently, it is not unknown for some of them to reach A2 or possibly even B1 level in as little as 2 weeks, depending how much time they devote to exposing themselves to their target language over the course of those two weeks, and assuming access to high-quality learning materials
Comment from : @caraboska

In Mexico there was an intellectual who, at the age of 99, continued writing for the publishers of the main newspapers, and continued publishing books In his last interview he was asked about his activities Among other things he said he was learning Chinese The journalist asked him if he was doing research on Chinese culture He answered no That he was learning Chinese because the brain is like a muscle If you don't exercise it, it becomes weak It doesn't matter how old you are, if you give up you will be defeated by life itself
Comment from : @retrodesignworkshop9429

MY DEAR FRIEND I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO LEARN ENGLISH FROM MY YOUTH NOWADAYS I AM 82 YEARS OLD AND CONTINUED LEARNING ENGLISH I CAN NOTICE THAT I GOT A GOOD PROGRESSION AND THAT THE AGE IS NOT AN OBSTACLE MY PLEASURE
Comment from : @ignaciogarciaormaechea3287

I will turn 18 next month and I've been studying English for 1 year and 9 months since at 16
Comment from : @MovimentoBrasilLivreS2

Hi Steve! My name is ManuelI am learning with LingQThanks for LingQ, Steve! I agree with you Steve, on identifying patterns, to learn languages I like you for your video! 👍
Comment from : @-dw8ix

Started english at 19, spanish at 32( few months now) , and i already now french and arabic from ( mother tongue)
Comment from : @omartrachen6794

The written points blip by so quickly that they are pointless
Comment from : @ashleymcclung8495

This is so informative and it is clear that language acquisition can be extremely helpful to older people What insights can be shared about engaging more of us in this endeavor? I have become a bit of an evangelist!
Comment from : @Annajetady

If you really want to learn a language you can, whatever your age brI am 70 years old and have managed to improve my French from A2 (2nd level basic) to B1 (intermediate) in 7 months brIt may have taken me a bit longer than it would have if I was 18 and I must admit, a bit longer than I anticipated but I can now understand about 80-90 of everything anyone says in French and I can now have decent conversations in French, even cracking jokes with my in-laws, in France brI will continue to learn French from CD and book courses, until I am at B2 (fluent) level and am fully confident, after which I expect to be able to just pick up more language skills by speaking to French speakers and listening to French radio
Comment from : @johnp-w123

I'm a bilingual brBefore I decided to learning English on my own brI can speak cantonese and Mandarin, we have English class in the primary school Middle School high School also university brEven though it just for the test brBut I think that It's still some kinda expose to English
Comment from : @Benwong-c1b

desire has a lot to do w language acquisition There are many immigrant children who have varying levels to no knowledge of their parents' languages
Comment from : @user-gr7jo9qb3l

Thank you very much for a brilliant video I turned 66 a week ago 35 months ago, I started learning Chinese Mandarin, and I'm about to finish HSK2 My two native languages are Russian and Ukrainian, and I learnt English as a foreign language at school I was passionate about English and made it my life profession At university, I learnt German and Latin Later in life, I was exposed to Italian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, and Hindu, as well as two native languages of Zimbabwe - Shona and Ndebele And now, at the age of 66, Chinese Mandarin I believe and speak from personal experience that age is nothing but a number, especially when it comes to learning languages Passion, desire and curiosity - is all that is needed and available time will appear like magic brAt the age of 26, I used to teach Russian to native English speakers One of my students was a 77-year-old lady who was the most diligent student
Comment from : @nataliencube5554

I'm too old to learn, but too young to stop learning!
Comment from : @davidbrisbane7206

Came to America 33 years ago but wound up living in a spanish speaking area all along, despite that ive made significant progress in English but now at age 58 i am embarked on an all out pursue of fluency as the ultimate goal, Mr Kauffman is such an example of how its done with perseverance, immersion and stress on acquiring rather than learning
Comment from : @mariosiaven2965

I sound like an old woman from Beijing when I speak Mandarin lol
Comment from : @kcc879

My current state in Australia is pushing teachers to use explicit instruction I think these things come and go around and I'm not sure people really know other than we can all learn to differing extents It's what you make it
Comment from : @kcc879

All I know is that I'm to old to live and too young to die
Comment from : @davidbrisbane7206

Learning a related language tends to be easier by far Good that the host is skeptical of NC
Comment from : @newguy8222

Forget hypothesis, look for a mechanism No mechanism, no science
Comment from : @EdMcF1

The feral child is a 'Kaspar Hauser' a German child who claimed to have grown up in isolation
Comment from : @EdMcF1

You can get to B1 at any age Just like Steve
Comment from : @RidleyHolmes-sr2tw

So Biden is too old to learn English ?!
Comment from : @moreme40

When I listen to you, I understand that I don't know the language you speak
Comment from : @alexandrhughes8552

78 oldstarted to learn chines 1 year agonow level 3-4 speaking and writing Never to late for anything
Comment from : @stephanejourdren3668

How much time had passed from the moment Lucy Snowe arrived in Villette till her first class as a substitute English teacher? I think it was about a month; I have to reread the novel to be certain Lucy Snowe learned enough French to conduct her class within about a month after arriving in a French-speaking country That was an incredible speed of language learning She still struggled with German, and did not attempt to learn Dutch, the indigenous language of the host countrybrTo me, a feasible explanation of this paradox is the following: Lucy Snowe learned some French at school (before the events of the novel started) – but not Dutch or GermanbrIn my school years, I missed an opportunity to take German classes as electives Perhaps if I had taken them, it would have given me a better foundation for studying German in the future
Comment from : @sergiyshklyar2573

It's useless There would be no practice 😊
Comment from : @ОксанаТульпа

He never gets around to the question of whether one becomes too old to learn a language and the answer in my case is probably not I began Italian in my early 70's and after several years I can now read, write and speak it reasonably well at roughly a B-2 level It helped a lot, but I don't think critically so, that I was fluent in Spanish and French in my 20's and got to an A-2/B-1 level in Mandarin in my 30's When I was younger, acquiring fluency was a bit easier but it also has been quite feasible in my senior years and just as fun and rewarding
Comment from : @brucebenson5908

I'm 73 years old and I started to learn English seven years ago I can understand the majority of native speakers, and speak with certain fluently From the start I exercised every single day and continue I'm enjoy watching english videos and also when I have the opportunity to speak (normally for work)
Comment from : @victorweiss427

I am a 68-year-old Finn So my native language is Finnish, which belongs to the Uralic language group and is very different from the Indo-European languages spoken in Europe In my youth, I had to learn three foreign languages at school, Swedish, English and German I hated those lessons and I wasn't very good at any of those languages But in any case, learning these languages at an appropriate age gave a good start to study more later Now I can actually use these languagesbrI'm not a polyglot Learning a new language is very difficult for me and I have to practice for years before I get results In my 20s I studied Spanish and later French, but I didn't use them Maybe now I could start Spanish again, but I chose modern Greek instead I have now studied Greek for three years I can read and write Greek text well My vocabulary is about 2000 words, but still speaking is very difficult I can easily find words and phrases in Spanish, but in Greek I don't I think it's because I started learning Greek when I was 65
Comment from : @Piikkimonni

Huh, i've been studying English since November 2022 and now i'm 54 yo i'm between b1 and b2 levels It's not bed, what do you think?brbr( Now is end of May 2024)
Comment from : @wov2004

I think childlike immersion is the difference
Comment from : @joejo4549

Upto nineteen years of age, learning languages other than ones own mother tongue is easy I could speak, read and write four languages with ease: three Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, and a foreign language English by the time I turned 19 brbrWhen I turned 83, I started learning another Indian language, Kannada Now I am 853, and not as successful as I was when I was 19
Comment from : @thomasva392

In my experience,I learned English at age 24 and is my second language after Spanish ,my mother tonguebrI learned French at 30 years old ,I am fluent in both but , have an undefined accent that most people find delightful
Comment from : @artgarrido5294

The daughter of a friend of ours didn't know any English until she moved to the US from Thailand at the age of 12 A couple of years later and she could speak fluent English without any trace of an accent
Comment from : @geraldmorgan3360

Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind Never learned native pronunciation😂 So it really doesn't matter brI'll pe päck😂❤
Comment from : @kipponi

66 Started learning Spanish So good to know not too late ! Great video and explanation of perhaps why some of us older types fall by the way side Purpose/ motivation I now live in Mexico so ideal to have some basic knowledge of Spanish, but wish to excel one day Thank you for posing Very interesting video
Comment from : @deadwalking100

The best period to learn a language is when you're alive
Comment from : @d314159

If a language is completely different from anything you've known before, age is much more critical
Comment from : @rasmussonderriis

Children learn everything better than adults No virtuoso musician, chess champion or olympic gymnast learns their craft in adulthood Not one Can you become proficient at music, chess or gymnastics in adulthood? Yes But you will never be as good as you would have been had you started young
Comment from : @ienjoyapples

I had a bilingual early youth, French and Dutch (I’m Belgian) I learned German in school at 12 and English when I was 15, Swahili when 11 I learned Russian when I was 30, Italian when 65 I can understand but not speak Polish, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish So, what about the ”critical period” ? Does the fact that I was bilingual from the start play a role ?
Comment from : @sinbad5531

Oh, thank you so much for your words ! As a Brazilian ESL teacher, I may say that is a kind of Challenge teach people who think that the Native like accent and the early years of studying is a perfect ( and only) recipe to learn a foreigner language 🙏🏼😌
Comment from : @andreagoncalvesdossantos5087

Many people learn their first language at an early agebrbrLater on, they might learn second language cuss words as teenagers
Comment from : @daveyvane

As with all things, some people learn foreign languages more easily than others
Comment from : @heronimousbrapson863

I’m not too interested in the topic, but this guy is listenable
Comment from : @Playsinvain

Arr that be right me luvver
Comment from : @IainDavies-z2l

Thank you Steve ! I am 75 , I learnt English and Spanish at school and now I learn , level one ! English and Spanish Je vais vous écouter à nouveau sans les sous-titres français Le lycée des années 60 nous donnait moins de possibilités pédagogiques qu'aujourd'hui ! Heureuse de vous trouver sur YouTube Je chercherai ce qu'est LingQ Michelle
Comment from : @Michelle-s8c8p

I started studying español at the age of 46, 8 years ago and voy bien hasta ahora
Comment from : @verdogan

My case:brSpanish: Mother tongue, no problem but I have forgotten some of the grammar and vocabularybrEnglish: Studied it at school and in private lessons until the age of 18 I now speak it fluently because I came to live in an English speaking countrybrFrench: Started learning it in evening classes, on and off over some years, after the age of 28 I could never learn it properly
Comment from : @FedericoDLP

As the old saying goes "One is never too old to learn" That's all there is to it! I am 52 years old, I am still alive, kicking and, well, keeping on learning new foreign languages
Comment from : @deepblue188

you can become fluent in a restricted field, and adequate in general conversation, but many people never quite lose intonations of first language no matter, study at any age, it's good for mental health
Comment from : @alfred-vz8ti

You can learn a foreign language at sny age if you desireI am Russian,I am 72 and I am able to study with great pleasure,my level ls B2We are retired and have much time for learningIf l were younger ! would learn FrenchThe main thing is practice,but l haven't got friends abroadI don't know how to practice my knowledgeI understood you very wellThank you
Comment from : @НатальяХанаева-м7ж

It's much more difficult for an adult, almost impossible, to achieve native like pronunciation
Comment from : @Starstreak170

They teach foreign languages at college This conversation is over
Comment from : @chetisanhart3457

I'm 64 and have been studying English for a long time Now I want to start with French 😊
Comment from : @ceciliarincon3935

Yes It’s harder to learn a language in my 70s than it was in my teens That’s no excuse not to work on it a little every day
Comment from : @mzmscoyote

Started Spanish at 72 Now 84 and studying Thai as well 😅
Comment from : @Androgen321

You can learn a language at any age If your brain works well enough to watch TV and vote, it works well enough to learn a language
Comment from : @ChristinaP-p3s

Unless you suffer from dementia or you have a brain damage, you can learn a language at any age
Comment from : @GabriEl

My daughter just turned three I speak Dutch with her and my wife speaks Mandarin with her and she has picked up Spanish in about four months by going to a daycare in Spain It’s incredible! Being bilingual re-wires your brain to learn new languages easily
Comment from : @MaartenSFS

Isn’t learning a language a continuous endeavor like exercising to be healthier; isn’t simple effort better complex avoidance?
Comment from : @UncleWally3

I learned German and Low-Saxon at age 3, English at age 12, and Scandinavian I picked up around the age of 16, but never very well, same with Hebrew at age 50, it is hard when you get old
Comment from : @SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands

The critical age is one year to two years old, I taught my kid English as a second language at that age, and have her watch the TeleTubbies on the BBC she picked up English in no time at all, and no, she did not confuse it with her Dutch or German Teach kids languages at that age, not at age 12 By that time it is hard to learn a third or 4th language
Comment from : @SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands

I need AI teacher who speak with me I learn english more than 30 years
Comment from : @Ролтун

I am a few months away from 70 and learning french!
Comment from : @A13JMC

Personally, I'd like to have more time to learn a new language But with my job and my role as a father I've found my excuse 😜 That said, I'm frustrated I speak French, your language and I get by in Chinese and I'll try to find some time to go deeper into it
Comment from : @pingspiritpingspirit4099

Took up German at 55, nine months in, I was able to converse with people in Germany
Comment from : @rboddington

❤
Comment from : @EnglishVid2

Если бы я не выучил мой первый язык, даже не знаю, как бы я учил остальные
Comment from : @БобрБобров-ф3ы

Once you learn a second language, it is easier to learn any other languages!!! The brain identifies language patterns!!
Comment from : @davido3026

I'm 27 and started learning Polish 2 years ago and started getting 1-2-1 lessons on Preply a year ago This has given me hope that I will eventually get to a B2 level one day!
Comment from : @EmmaLawford

I am retired and spend 2 to 3 hours every day studying French I enjoy the language and the culture and I have spent several months almost every year in Paris since retiring 8 years ago I studied Spanish in high school and in college but my focus over the past ten years has been learning French Etudier le francais est mon passe-temps
Comment from : @DennisMiklavic

Languages are like maths some people find it easy to learn and for others it is harder 🤷🏻‍♀️
Comment from : @mariav948

Before five or six I think we talk about language acquisition
Comment from : @samoujdi9838

I believe that the Defense Language Aptitude Battery test is based for the most part on recognizing and applying "patterns" How well a person tests in this determines which tier of languages they can qualify to take instruction in [I believe there are currently four categories, ranging from Cat I (the easiest) to Cat IV So, your point on recognizing patterns is well taken
Comment from : @stephenpoole5331

It seems that children learn quicker because their vocabulary is smaller Don´t you think?
Comment from : @tkrayko

I am a native Russian speaker and of course I speak Russian better than any of other languages which I know I am exposed to this language for 25 years! I remember my strugles with Russian during my childhood, and now I speak and write in Russian effortlessly The key thing is our experience If you learn language for example for 3 years, how do you expect to match native speakers from your age group? They are way too experienced in their mother tongue; and you just need more time and input I believe that critical period exist for learning your first language and the overall concept of communicating But if you are part of human society and speak at least one language, other languages can be learned throughout your life
Comment from : @helenemorgenstern9110

You never miss 🔥
Comment from : @Businedu

I have been living in Germany for almost 3 years and am 59 years old, I still have a lot to learn German, but I can work and talk with native speakers It is possible to learn
Comment from : @hiberpechiro