How to Learn a Foreign Language After 50
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Because Maltese is based on Arabic, the language was hard to learn. The alphabet looks a lot like English but has four more letters. She knew bits of other languages. But “I fell into the English crutch a lot, just a comfort zone,” she says. Even though Azzopardi moved from Malta, she says she's not going to give up on being bilingual. "Spanish is the next language I want to study and master, for two reasons. One, Sophia [her daughter] is studying it. And two, it is the second language of the U.S., especially in and ,” she says. "I will not give up!” she says. “Luckily, I know a lot of words in Italian and some Spanish words are close, so I have a head start."
Can You Learn a New Language After 50
Dedicated study speaking it often and living where it s spoken are key
Sonya Van Gelderen at home in Progreso, Mexico. Courtesy of Sonya VanGelderen Sonya VanGelderen grew up in Canada but felt the pull to go south ever since she hit her 50s. Her kids were grown, she was newly divorced and she was ready to invent a happier version of herself. So she set off for Latin America, decided to stay and learned Spanish. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. "I wanted to know the real culture, the real people, and I wanted to be able to, you know, say, ‘What a cute little baby’ when I was passing someone on the street,” says VanGelderen, now 57 and a bilingual property manager on the coast in Progreso, Mexico. “I guess I wanted to integrate with the people.” She's one of thousands of boomers and Generation Xers who retire, or semi-retire early, each year to a warmer, seemingly more exotic or less expensive country. And she's done what many people her age can't: learn a new language. Though learning a language at any age has been found to , it's not easy to master a second language when you're older. But it's not impossible, says Joshua Hartshorne, a researcher and director of the Language Learning Laboratory at Boston College. It's just that young children are much better at it, and scientists still are trying to figure out why.Immerse yourself in the language early
Two things will help you learn a new language, Hartshorne says: immersing yourself in exclusive use of a new language — and youth. "Being young is good” when it comes to this, he says. “Being in the place where the language is spoken and trying to speak it all day is even better. So, moving to a country where the language is spoken and trying to learn it there will be even more successful if you're 2 years old at the time that you do it." For those of us who are older, well, it's kind of like juggling, says Roger Kreuz, a psychology professor who studies language at the University of Memphis. He also is coauthor of Becoming Fluent, a book that describes the process of learning a second language in adulthood.7 tips to become fluent
1. Find your motivation. 2. Set specific, realistic goals. 3. Be public with your goals. 4. Find a study buddy. 5. Talk to people who speak the language. 6. Accept that you will make mistakes. 7. Practice. "Juggling appears very impressive if you can't juggle,” Kreuz says. “But it turns out that almost anybody can learn how to do it in a fairly short period of time, assuming that they get the effective training for doing it. Courtesy of Pete and Eileen Azzopardi "Just because something may appear difficult doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be impossible to do it at a certain age,” he says.Don t discount small talk
Eileen Azzopardi has tried to pick up languages everywhere she's moved. She was a U.S. Navy wife whose husband was stationed in Sardinia, Italy, on the last stop of his military career. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. , and then to . She took two university-level Italian courses and could make small talk in Italian. "I could order in Italian. I could shop in the supermarket. But getting around to further, deeper conversations with people, like forming friendships, I found that to be very hard,” says Azzopardi, 50, who grew up in Pennsylvania and now lives in Bradenton, Florida. After her husband, Pete, got out of the Navy, they lived their dream for five years, retiring to Malta. The Mediterranean island is between Sicily and the North African coast, where her husband has ancestors. They bought a house, got dual citizenship, sent their daughter to an international school, took Maltese lessons and eventually gave up. "To live in Europe, you give up a lot,” says Azzopardi, who loved the experience but ended up missing family, friends and the comforts of America. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Her high school French didn't do her much good abroad. She could get by in Malta speaking English. The country's two official languages are English and Maltese.Because Maltese is based on Arabic, the language was hard to learn. The alphabet looks a lot like English but has four more letters. She knew bits of other languages. But “I fell into the English crutch a lot, just a comfort zone,” she says. Even though Azzopardi moved from Malta, she says she's not going to give up on being bilingual. "Spanish is the next language I want to study and master, for two reasons. One, Sophia [her daughter] is studying it. And two, it is the second language of the U.S., especially in and ,” she says. "I will not give up!” she says. “Luckily, I know a lot of words in Italian and some Spanish words are close, so I have a head start."