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I think, it's more gradual. The older you are, the more effort it takes to learn new things. Most people eventually get frustrated and give up. A few that don't

I think, it's more gradual. The older you are, the more effort it takes to learn new things. Most people eventually get frustrated and give up. A few that don't, show much better results compared to their peers. But I doubt they could outcompete an equally determined youngster. One notable example would be moving to a country with a different language. School-age kids become native speakers in terms of years with little effort, while doing it in your 60s requires tremendous effort to get the most basic communication going.

mahkeiro 5y ago
School kids are forced to become bilingual. Every single interaction they have during the day must be in another language. The 60s year old something has most of the time limited interaction during the day with the other language. That's the main reason. A simple example, in my area we have multiple "international school" teaching only in english. I can tell you that most of the kids are far to be called bilingual in French. The other day I was in front of a group of them trying to see who would be able to order in French at the Starbuck. And this is not because they don't have French lessons, they have plenty. One of my friend is born and raised in Switzerland but only attended english schools and lived in an english speaking family, his level of French is far far from being bilingual.
mellavora 5y ago
> The older you are, the more effort it takes to learn new things. My experience has been the opposite. Learning is also a skill, and at this point I am extremely accomplished at it. > School-age kids become native speakers in terms of years with little effort Often repeated, but doubtful. School-age children burn through incredible amounts of energy per body mass. There is almost nothing they do which is "little effort". Probably originated because children (and adults) learn best through play, which is biologically how animals are designed to learn. But somehow "play" doesn't count as "effort"

mahkeiro 5y ago

School kids are forced to become bilingual. Every single interaction they have during the day must be in another language. The 60s year old something has most of the time limited interaction during the day with the other language. That's the main reason. A simple example, in my area we have multiple "international school" teaching only in english. I can tell you that most of the kids are far to be called bilingual in French. The other day I was in front of a group of them trying to see who would be able to order in French at the Starbuck. And this is not because they don't have French lessons, they have plenty. One of my friend is born and raised in Switzerland but only attended english schools and lived in an english speaking family, his level of French is far far from being bilingual.

mellavora 5y ago

> The older you are, the more effort it takes to learn new things. My experience has been the opposite. Learning is also a skill, and at this point I am extremely accomplished at it. > School-age kids become native speakers in terms of years with little effort Often repeated, but doubtful. School-age children burn through incredible amounts of energy per body mass. There is almost nothing they do which is "little effort". Probably originated because children (and adults) learn best through play, which is biologically how animals are designed to learn. But somehow "play" doesn't count as "effort"