Advantages You Didn't Know You Have
Elasticity is important, but it is not the only thing that matters
Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Teaching adults is something I thoroughly enjoy and that is due in large part to the fact that many adults severely underestimate their own potential. Especially with regard to foreign languages. Everyone knows that children have an advantage when it comes to learning. However, there are skills that adults develop that permit them to learn just as effectively.
The critical period myth
Neuroplasticity is real and to ignore it’s impact on learning would be a disservice to anyone reading this. However, it is also incorrect to treat it as the only thing that matters when it comes to education. Especially considering how many advantages adults have over children as the concepts become more complex. The true critical period is any period of time in which you can commit yourself to improvement.
Children have an advantage that, if given to an adult, would be the cheat code to improving faster than anyone could possibly imagine. What is it, you ask? Simple: a lack of responsibility. Children don’t have to pay rent or go to work or go to the gym or make meals or do chores and everything is paid by someone else. If you were in the same situation, I dare say you could accomplish quite a lot in 90 days.
Fortunately, there are ways to build language learning into your life, even as a busy working professional, you just need to temper your expectations to match your availability. For the best ways to build your language studies into your daily life, check out this article:
Children also don’t have the same embarrassment and shame regulation that adults have. While this can cause issues at times, when it comes to language learning it means they don’t really care if they make mistakes or not. A non child specific advantage that adult language learners can take and steal for themselves. Furthermore, they have absolutely no expectations with regards to timelines.
For an adult, especially one to whom most things come easy, the prospect of being bad at something for months or even years is anything but appealing. Some things simply take more time as an adult, but that doesn’t mean those things are not worth doing. If you want to know what a reasonable timeline looks like as an adult, read this:
Cognitive advantages of adult learners
Adults are aware of trends and patterns that children simply do not have the background knowledge to comprehend. The more you know about a variety of topics, the more likely it is that you have hidden ways to remember words based on your life experience. Even without expressly expanding your own horizons, the mere act of aging is enough to provide you with plenty of scaffolding.
Your vocabulary, in theory, is also larger than that of a child. A larger vocabulary in your native language means a larger vocabulary in your target language. There really is no way around this. That is why I am always urging people to improve their native language skills at the same time as they are working on learning a new language. Both work symbiotically to improve your overall cognition.
Context may seem like something you cannot prepare for and you largely cannot. However, the situations in which you can find yourself are limited. If you have had an experience before, speaking about it in a new language will be easier than working from complete scratch. Again, the act of aging is more than enough to provide you with more relevant experiences than a child has.
Finally, you have motivation. If you are reading this, chances are you have decided to take your language acquisition seriously. This is an advantage that you have over children. Most children don’t want to learn anything. Being here right now, reading this, means that you do want to learn. And, now, you are in control of your education which means doing things you actually enjoy.
Adult specific challenges
That is not to say, of course, that adult learners do not face their own specific challenges. The first and most prevalent is limited time. You do, in fact, have to go to work and do chores and cook meals and maybe you even have to chauffeur your kid(s) around. Your time does not look anything like theirs and therefore you have no business trying to approach education the way that a child does.
You also have to unlearn the fear of mistakes that you developed as you aged. It is normal to fear embarrassment. It is equally harmful to your language acquisition success. Courage is a muscle that needs to be worked in order to develop. If you need help developing your delusional confidence, find out how here:
The final and most difficult hurdle you have to overcome is that of maintaining your momentum alongside your responsibilities. Fortunately, that does not mean you need to be perfect. Instead it means that you need to be honest with yourself about what is possible and give yourself grace in the moments when you fall short of your goals.
Life happens. Emergencies, accidents, children, and responsibilities abound. But that is life. Those things are no reason to avoid doing things you want to do. Learning how to prioritize and optimize so that you can accomplish as much as possible takes time, but you, as an adult, are far more capable of accomplishing those things than any child would be.
Conclusion
Learning a new language is incredibly unique in that once you have done it, it is done. That is to say, it is incredibly difficult to “lose” your language skills once you have them. Try to enjoy the process because, unless you choose to learn another language (and I think you should) then this is a one time thing. Train yourself to enjoy the journey, it is temporary.
You are, right now, in this very moment, the youngest you ever will be. If age has been an excuse you have been using, waiting only makes it worse. That is true of all things for which you use age as an excuse to avoid. It is difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. So get out and do some difficult things and become great. I am rooting for you.
