Poll: How old were you when you started receiving input in your second language?

Christine Andersen wrote:

My "second" language was probably Marathi, which my parents were studying and speaking when I was born. Unfortunately for my language learning, they took me 'home' to the UK around the age of three, and then moved to a city where they did not dare allow me out alone. I never learnt more than a few words of Marathi, and left India for good at the age of 10.

The second language I understood was French, which I learnt intermittently from the age of 7 and took up to BA level at about 40. I was fluent and could probably be again, but have never been to France or used it actively. I can read it without trouble.

I did four years of Latin along the way too... motivated by dreams of reading medicine.

At around 16 I started German, and did an intensive course to A-Level, then again, studied the language intermittently up to Bachelor level on different courses (I was battling with ill health in my 20s and went to three different colleges ...) I speak German more fluently than French at a basic level...

Then I married a Dane and took up Danish at the age of 28. That is now more or less my language of habitual usage or second native language, and I have lived longer in Denmark than any other country.

I studied Danish on an intensive course for foreigners for a year, but was largely self taught after that until I took a course at commercial college along with Danish sixth-formers, mainly to learn office skills. I followed this up with night school French-to-Danish and German-to-Danish at around bachelor level, and then as I approached 50 I took a postgraduate diploma in translation from Danish to English and English to Danish.

I do a few jobs from Swedish and Norwegian, though if I don't like the look of them I back out on the excuse that I am totally auto-didact and not qualified

I am functionally bilingual, and in terms of fluency etc. Danish is my second language. But it was about the fifth I actually learnt.

Take your pick!



[Edited at 2008-10-13 19:51]

Alexandra Goldburt wrote:



Indeed, why not? Human beings can learn in any age. I intend to continue learning new languages into my nineties, or whatever age I manage to live to.

Will I translate from it? Yes, after I have learned it well. I have done some translation from Portuguese - the language I started learning when I was 40.

Back to the original question: I started to learn English at the age of 25, when I immigrated. I started to learn Spanish at 27. I learned them both well enough to become a Spanish-English interpreter, and to aspire to get court certification as such (that's what I'm working on right now). Sure, there will be people skeptical about my ability to do it, but I will not let it stop me.

Nesrin wrote:
I'm not sure you understood me, Amy and Alexandra. I don't doubt for a moment that it is possible to start learning new languages in one's 40s and beyond.
What I am finding hard to imagine, is that someone could reach their 40s EXCLUSIVELY speaking his/her native language - not even having the concept of what a foreign language is, THEN start to learn a language, and THEN actually go on to become a professional translator.
But that may be just me with my limited imagination and understanding of human nature (and poll results are indeed starting to show some exceptions).


[Edited at 2008-10-14 09:01]

Venkatesh Sundaram wrote:
I started learning German, the language I translate from quite competently these days, when I was forty. I intend learning another language in my fifties too!