Hey, everyone.
So, a big question we're here to explore
the answers to is
can you learn a new language as an adult?
And today we're here with Claire.
Hi.
At what point in your life
did you pick up these seven languages?
I was brought up monolingual.
My parents only spoke Czech to me.
I come from a country
which is very homogenous,
and I come from a very small town.
I had never really made
a foreigner inside the country
and I was never exposed
to foreign languages
until I started watching American tv
when I was probably,
I don't know, 11, 12.
I think by the age of 13,
I was actually fluent in English.
And then I realized
I really enjoyed languages.
So, I started learning French
and I mainly picked up French
when I was 16 and I went to France.
This is more like active with intention
learning a language, study, routine.
I did learn for like two years,
so, I had the basics.
But, then when I arrived to France,
I didn't understand what people were saying.
I didn't know, you know,
that was one word
or one sentence or like three sentences.
It was just like noise to me.
Sounds like most French relationships
that I've heard about.
Oh, that's interesting. You don't know where the beginning,
you don't know where the end is.
So, if you weren't there on site,
you feel like
learning French would have been
a very different journey.
But, being in France,
exploring it, travelling,
and that really helped you.
And this is your third language, right?
So, that was my third language.
It took me
not even half a year,
like it took me four and a half months,
and my school was pretty flexible.
So, I was like, if I could do that
next year again,
I could pick up another language. Okay.
And so, at the age of 17,
I went to Germany.
So, that's how I got fluent in French
and then German.
And then I started learning Spanish
for four years at high school.
I think I'm still fluent,
but, I just never use it.
So, it's rusty when I speak it.
So, these are still commonly known,
you know, learning years where
some would argue there's an advantage,
you're still young enough,
you're in a learning environment.
Yes, you took an initiative
to immerse yourself in the culture
but, like it's impossible up to 25.
What I heard is that
our brains are actually
endlessly flexible
and even old people at old age,
they can retrain themselves. Right.
If we don't use them very actively, like,
yes, they might,
you know,
become a bit slower,
but then you can regain that plasticity
even at a very old age.
I am almost at the end of my twenties
and I'm currently
learning my seventh language.
At no point
did I tell myself,
Oh my God, but
like I'm
so old now, like I'm
so way past my prime time.
Like, no,
like where would I get if I,
if I had that kind of thinking patterns?
I'm not fluent in Mandarin yet,
but, I can see them get in there.
Maybe you have a lot of routine,
a lot of habits, a lot of intention.
What do you tell a 40 year old
hoping to learn German tomorrow?
If they have a background in time.
You know,
I observed on myself
that I picked up different languages
pretty much by myself.
I felt like learning languages
in adulthood or, you know, in a
at a later age was pretty much similar
to the way children learn.
I think that was my personal experience.
And so, I wanted to see
what the science has to say about that.
And so, I went to Cambridge
specifically to take a course
called first and second language acquisition.
Which basically for an entire year
compared how children acquire
their first language
so, their native language
and then comparing
how children can acquire a second language
at a later stage,
and then how adults
can acquire a second language.
And to be honest,
I don't really remember
what the conclusion of the class was,
but, like my own conclusion
from what I learned in that year was
if we want to learn a language,
we should try to simulate that
as much as possible.
So, how do children learn?
They're so curious,
like they spend their whole days
just walking around and like,
what's that here and what is that?
And how does that work?
And they're not afraid to ask questions.
They just live in the moment.
And when they're curious, they ask,
and when they don't know, they try.
They say it and they get feedback
and they communicate.
And it's a back and forth, right?
Many times,
when we try to pick up a textbook
and start learning,
we try to learn entire sentences.
Basically, we were too hard on ourselves,
and we think it needs to be perfect
and we're scared of
Exactly, it's all about that, right?
Just have fun with it, take it easy.
Do you feel like you would acquire
more languages in your future?
I hope so.
And that the older you get,
you don't really feel
discouraged by the idea of age
with this new acquisition
of languages, right?
Honestly, it never even crossed my mind.
Do you think it could give us
a few solid tips or tactics on this language
language learning journey
we're all trying to embark on?
Number one, maybe it's curiosity.
Don't learn because you think you have to learn
just, what do you want to know?
Why do you want to know it?
Right? Like, enjoy it.
Yeah.
Number two would be befriend your ego.
As I said, like,
if we can be more childlike,
if we can be less
afraid of making mistakes. Less afraid.
Number three would be exposure,
you know, either
exposing yourself to different sources,
but, it can also be repetition.
For example,
listen to your favorite
song over and over,
or you can use an app like Glossika, right?
You just allow your brain
to get used to it basically.
It's a whole new concept.
It's a whole new way of thinking.
So, you want your brain
to get acquainted
with the language patterns
and the sounds. So, yeah.
Thank you, Claire.
I think it's beautiful.
And again,
I'm really hoping we have more chats
and we'll see you here again really soon.
Thank you.
Hey, guys.
Hope you enjoyed our video.
Please remember to like it and subscribe.
So, we can pump out more.
And again,
big thanks to Claire
for joining us today
and we hope to have more conversations in the future.
See you soon.