It's not too late to learn a new language as an adult. It goes more slowly than it does for a child, and sounding like a native speaker is harder, but the ability to learn stays with you your whole life.
Two findings help. A study of more than 600,000 people found that the ability to learn grammar stays intact until about age seventeen and then declines gradually, but not to zero. And in a study where students learned Swahili words, those who kept quizzing themselves on the words remembered about four out of five a week later. Those who stopped quizzing themselves on a word once they'd gotten it right remembered about a third. Both groups thought they would remember about half.
Choose your path based on why you're learning the language:
- Before a trip: the phrases you'll need, out loud, every day.
- For work or a move: the most common everyday words, and one conversation a week.
- You've studied the language but don't speak it: talk, even when you get it wrong.
- Live in the language for a while each day if you want to take it further.
A first step today: write down ten words you need in the language. Quiz yourself on them tomorrow, and keep quizzing yourself even on the ones you know.
It's not too late to learn a new language as an adult. It goes more slowly than it does for a child, and sounding like a native speaker is harder. But the ability to learn stays with you your whole life, and how you practice makes a big difference. This article covers what two studies say about age and vocabulary and lays out four paths based on why you're learning the language.
Children have a head start, but adults do learn
In 2018, Hartshorne, Tenenbaum and Pinker had more than 600,000 people take an online English grammar test, both native English speakers and people who had learned it later. Using a model that separated age, how old people were when they started, and how many years they had been at it, they could estimate how the ability to learn grammar changes with age.
The ability stayed nearly unchanged until about age seventeen and then declined gradually. That explains why people who start as children more often end up sounding like natives. But the curve slopes down; it doesn't end. Adults still learn, just more slowly, and the study also found that reaching your peak level takes longer than previously thought, for everyone.
The study measured grammar in a single language, through an online test. It says nothing about vocabulary, pronunciation or how well someone handles a conversation, and it doesn't say that adults can't get very good. For most adults, the goal isn't to sound like a native speaker. It's to understand and be understood.
Keep quizzing yourself on what you know
In 2008, Karpicke and Roediger had students learn 40 Swahili words, each paired with its translation. During practice, all the groups learned the words equally fast. The difference was what happened to a word once they'd gotten it right. In some groups, they kept being quizzed on it. In others, it was dropped from the quizzes, though they could still study it.
A week later, the gap was large. Those who kept quizzing themselves remembered about four out of five words. Those who stopped remembered about a third, even though they kept reading the words. Rereading made no noticeable difference. The quizzing did.
- Kept quizzing About four out of five words remembered after a week.
- Stopped quizzing About a third remembered, even though they read the words.
Both groups thought they would remember about half.
The most surprising part was what the students themselves expected. Both groups guessed they would remember about half, and their guesses had no connection to how they actually did. So the feeling of knowing a word tells you little about whether you'll remember it. The same trap applies to all kinds of studying, and the guide to study techniques covers it.
Don't toss the words you know
It's easy to do the opposite: set a vocabulary word aside as soon as you get it right. It feels efficient, because the pile shrinks. But according to the study, that's exactly when the word needs to be quizzed again. Keep the words you know and quiz yourself on them every few days, with longer gaps the better they stick, as in studying for a test.
Words that won't stick can get help from an image, as in memory techniques. And use the words, don't just quiz yourself on them: say them out loud, write a sentence with them, or work them into your next conversation.
Four paths, based on why you're learning the language
Before a trip. For you if you want to get by on vacation. Pick the phrases you'll actually need, like saying hello, ordering, asking for directions and saying you don't understand. Say them out loud, every day. First step: write down ten phrases you need and say them out loud tonight.
For work or a move. For you if you'll be living with the language. Start with the most common everyday words and phrases, not with a textbook from page one. Set up one conversation a week, with a teacher, a coworker or someone who wants to learn your language in exchange. First step: write down twenty words you heard or needed today, and quiz yourself on them tomorrow.
You've studied the language but don't speak it. For you if you know the grammar but freeze up in conversation. Speaking is what needs practice, and the only way to practice it is to talk, even when you get it wrong. Mistakes are part of learning, not a sign that it's going badly. First step: say one thing in the language today, to someone or out loud to yourself.
Live in the language for a while each day. For you if you want to take it further, and it's the most demanding path. Set aside a fixed time each day when everything happens in the language: you listen, read, think and write a short journal entry. Write down unfamiliar words and quiz yourself on them. First step: write three sentences in the language tonight about what you did today.
A first step today: write down ten words you need in the language. Quiz yourself on them tomorrow, and keep quizzing yourself even on the ones you know.
This is the understanding and a first step. Atlas is where it becomes a habit. Under Learning you'll find Fifteen minutes of new and Teach it, and if you add Study & career as its own area, you also get One contact a week, for when you want to find someone to talk with. You log each session and see week by week how often it happened. Try Atlas free for 7 days, and cancel whenever you want.