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Is learning new languages actually worth it for adults?
I have met people who have lived in a country for years, are intelligent and have studied hard. Yet they are far from a native speaker. Those who haven't spoken their new language for years seem to lose it. Is picking up French/German/Spanish worth it? It seems like an enormous investment to develop worse language skills than the average native 12-year-old. Even when it comes to enjoying the culture in the native language, I am not even sure it would be the case. A person who learned latin and read Caesar's memoirs in the original latin would probably get less out of it due to their lacking latin than reading a translated copy.
I studied a language for 6 years in school. Along with everyone I know who hasn't studied their extra language extensively post school I can barely write a paragraph in it. Was it a giant waste of time to have Spanish or French an hour a week for 6 years when the results are lacking?
If learning a language meant learning it to the point of fluency or near native ability, I could see the point. However, most learners seem to spend countless hours learning without being able to have a conversation that doesn't require effort from both parties.
I guess you're really asking two questions there, is it possible and, if possible, is it worth it?
The answer to the first question is absolutely yes in my view. It is possible for adults to acquire (not learn) a language to a native level. The problem is that language education is fundamentally broken. You cannot 'learn' a language by studying the linguistics of the language, you have to just expose yourself to the language and let your subconscious do the rest. I've been acquiring Spanish through comprehensible input for a few months now, and my understanding has just skyrocketed. I've found myself dreaming in Spanish, I've had random phrases pop into my head. It's pretty incredible to experience, and it is genuinely fun to feel this kind of improvement. It's like noob gains at the gym.
But you do need to put in the hours. The website I'm using estimates that it takes around 1,500 hours of comprehensible input for an English-speaker to reach native level fluency. Half that for someone who speaks a Romance language, double it for a non-European language like Japanese. It's possible to do it with one hour a day, but it'll take years. The good thing is, the further along the process you are, the easier it is to get input. Once you're at a level where you can read Harry Potter or watch How I Met Your Mother in your target language and mostly understand it, you can just replace your English media consumption with the target language.
Is it worth it though?
For me it is, I want to be truly bilingual and I want to give my kids a second language too. I want to be able to speak to the Spanish people I know in their mother tongue. I want to be able to visit Spain or Latin America and communicate effortlessly with the locals. I want to gain the cognitive benefits of bilingualism (if they do exist). Whether it's worth it for you depends on what you're looking to get out of it.
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