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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 Tips and Advice

“I wish I’d paid more attention at school!”

Our advice for adult language learners

The popular assumption about learning a new skill is that when you are younger, is that it comes very naturally. This is attributed to the still developing, curious, creative and dynamic human brain – something neuroscientists refer to as ‘neuroplasticity’. However, this suggests that when you reach maturity you begin to lose the ability to learn new things, whether it is a new sport, a musical instrument. Yet, both contemporary sciences, and our own experience with over 30 years teaching foreign languages prove this to be largely false. Indeed, there is no better time to learn a language, than right now!
Categories
Language learning Tips and Advice

‘Phoning it in’ – pros and cons of language learning apps

There is such a proliferation of language learning applications for your tablet, PC and phone in 2019 that it is often quite difficult to define what they actually can and can’t do. Indeed, when ads claim you can ‘learn a language in a month’ or ’spend 10 minutes a day to achieve fluency’, is this actually the case? As we know, language learning is a multifaceted exercise, so can we take advantage of technology to help make the process as enjoyable and efficient as possible? Today we will be taking a look at the pros and cons of different language learning apps in comparison to other learning methods.