Motivation and language learning

Motivation is the key factor if you want to learn a language

Second language learners secret for speaking fluently Based on empirical findings as well as my own observations, Successful English Learners (SELs) do indeed have some things in common. First and perhaps foremost, SELs make their own opportunities by using English outside the classroom. They try to use the English language every day. Although almost all [...]

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Learn another language motivation “A second language seems strange at first. It feels awkward and unnatural. In some people, it arouses fear and hatred. So the question is: How can an ordinary monolingual person become an excellent language learner? There are two requirements. First, you have to be sure you will succeed and, second, you [...]

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“I am not good with languages”-No one is and everyone is. It is about finding the techniques you like and works for you. “I know someone who just picked up a language in a few months, just by being there”. I do not believe it, I have taught 1,000s of students and this does not [...]

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Matrix and language learning The Practical Linguist / Get your mind in the mood for languages by/from Marshall R. Childs Special to The Daily Yomiuri Many people believe that human beings have a “critical period” during which they can learn languages with ease, and after which they cannot. The critical period is a matter of [...]

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  Brain plasticiy ‘Plastic’ brain transforms itself by Lynda Hurst-For centuries, science regarded the human brain as a machine, with every component in its place, every task assigned. If a part was broken or worn out, that was that. It couldn’t be replaced: its function was permanently lost. That was also wrong. Injured or dysfunctional [...]

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Learning as adult or as a child My parents could speak Polish and Ukrainian. I was only taught English, as in the 1960s it was important in America to learn English and fit in. I often have regretted not learning at least one of these languages. However, the reality is every one of my parent’s [...]

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Autisic Savant learns a language in a week Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Amy Kroin- Daniel Tammet is a man of many talents. He can learn foreign languages — even notoriously tricky ones like Icelandic — in a week. He can solve intricate mathematical equations in [...]

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Old Woman Polyglot Surprises Fellow Countrymen from Bernama- An 84-year-old woman living in a remote Novgorod village of Utorgosh in southern Russia surprises her fellow countrymen with the knowledge of foreign languages. Everybody, who is acquainted with Maria Ivanova, is sincerely surprised, how an ordinary villager with secondary education, who worked at the local flax-processing [...]

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How old is the limit for language learning? I do not think there is a limit. You can learn a language at any age.

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