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Language learning

Is Language Learning Only for Children?

There is a common belief that language learning becomes impossible with age due to brain plasticity decreasing in the later years. In other words, adults learn slower.

However, if you look further into the subject you will find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Some of our students learning in our French classes.

Adult learners have strong advantages over children that put them in an excellent position to speak another language

Advantage: You already speak one language fluently 

Firstly, you already speak your mother tongue well in comparison to a child. In your adult life, you have encountered complex texts and have had to express yourself to a much higher standard. You have a better understanding of reading, speaking and understanding. This would serve as a foundation on which you can compare a foreign language to. When you learn a new word you would already know the English equivalent and when and where to use it. This prior knowledge means you are building your language rather than a first-time discovery.

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Language learning Videos

Video clip: The bar

Learning a language like Italian can be a bit more complicated than just reading a book…

Categories
Language learning Videos

Video clip: the date

Learning a language like French can be a bit more complicated than just reading a book…

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Language learning Tips and Advice

Embracing local culture as a second-home-owner

Live like a local

When you finally achieve the dream of buying, renovating, building or even renting your dream home abroad, the idea of embracing the local culture suddenly takes on a new significance. Naturally, you’ll be excited about learning how to live like a local – knowing the best places to eat, engaging in new traditions and understanding a different way of life but, more unexpectedly, living like a local becomes an absolute necessity if you want to get anything done!
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Internal Language learning Tips and Advice

The top five excuses for not learning a language…

… and why you can’t use them!

It goes without saying that we’ve heard every excuse in the book in the last 28 years… and we’ve overcome every single one of them.

At the Marlow Language Centre, we come across the same reservations time and time again, but the trick to surmounting those mental blocks is to see those “reasons” for what they are – unfounded excuses that you don’t have to be guided by!

Want to know if your favourite excuse is on our list? These are the five most common reasons we hear for shying away from learning a language – and why you can’t use any of them…
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Internal Language learning Tips and Advice

How to help your employees love learning

Perceived obstacles and how to overcome them

Learning a second language can be a smart career move, yet many employees find themselves terrified of tackling such a challenge.

This can be both frustrating and baffling for you as a manager – especially if you find language learning easy yourself – so how can you best support your employees to not shy away from the benefits of bilingualism?
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Internal Language learning Tips and Advice

Broken your new year’s resolution yet?

How to maintain motivation for your language learning in February and beyond

Hands up if you started the year with a flurry of new year’s resolutions and career goals.

Even for the biggest procrastinators amongst us, January 1st seems like an enticing time to start developing our skillset by setting goals like learning a second language.

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Internal Language learning Tips and Advice

Languages: a national priority for Brexit

The “national priority” we need to focus on for the UK to compete internationally

The British Council has called for languages to become a “national priority” in the run-up to Brexit after research shows that English youngsters are among the worst in Europe at foreign languages.

Past studies suggest that our young people are lagging far behind their European peers, with many unable to understand more than basic words or phrases and new research confirms that two-thirds of adults (67%) surveyed said that the UK does not encourage enough young people to learn other languages and 63% said schools should dedicate more time to foreign languages.