TicoRuso
August 08, 2015, 08:44 AM
Take it from a teacher who is probably about as old as you are and is self-educating the Spanish ... you were probably not mature enough to have been educating yourself through your 20's and a lot of your 30's. Now you are probably beginning to see a positive shift in your priorities, right? Just guessing... :)
I have to disagree with this idea...I'm 26 and have self taught Portuguese, Italian, French, etc. I'm working on Russian, Arabic, and German at present. My first language was Spanish, second was English, then the self taught ones, then Hebrew, then Persian-Farsi and Dari. Being in your 20's and 30's has nothing to do with your ability nor maturity for language learning, except that it is much more difficult to learn languages after your formative years as a child. I now teach language as part of my job and find that the younger individuals, especially in early 20's, have an easier time learning foreign languages, even self-taught. The discipline that tends to come with age is about the only advantage that I see other than maybe having established learning strategies. The discipline helps with study habits and such.
I have to disagree with this idea...I'm 26 and have self taught Portuguese, Italian, French, etc. I'm working on Russian, Arabic, and German at present. My first language was Spanish, second was English, then the self taught ones, then Hebrew, then Persian-Farsi and Dari. Being in your 20's and 30's has nothing to do with your ability nor maturity for language learning, except that it is much more difficult to learn languages after your formative years as a child. I now teach language as part of my job and find that the younger individuals, especially in early 20's, have an easier time learning foreign languages, even self-taught. The discipline that tends to come with age is about the only advantage that I see other than maybe having established learning strategies. The discipline helps with study habits and such.