Language-Learning in Later Years: Debunking the Myths
During her time as a volunteer at Lingo Flamingo, Emma Peterson taught Spanish at a care home in Rutherglen, and received great feedback from staff and students alike for her patient, fun, engaging teaching style.
Whether you still hold onto Higher French skills from your school days or have ever signed up to conversational language classes to avoid awkward encounters at the tapas bar in Spain, the majority of us, at some point in our lives, have had experience learning a language that’s not our mother tongue.
However, the reality is that just 38% of Britons are fluent in one foreign language. According to a European Commission survey, British people are officially the worst language learners in Europe! This is hardly surprising, given that, for most of us, our Spanish skills seldom stretch further than ‘una cerveza, por favor’.
Because of this, many would think that efforts to resume and revitalise our language-learning during adult years are futile. What could we possibly pick up now that clearly didn’t ‘stick’ before? Indeed, why bother learning a language when everyone else seems to already speak English?
Similarly, many doubt the effectiveness of language classes for those living with dementia. What’s the point in teaching someone with dementia new, foreign words that they may not remember days, hours or even minutes later? Won’t a new language just cause further confusion?
After spending what has been an immensely rewarding year as a Spanish teacher representing Lingo Flamingo at a local care home in Glasgow, I have come up with what I consider to be the top misconceptions surrounding language-learning for older people and for those living with dementia.
You can be too old to learn a language: FALSE
We are often told of the impressive abilities of younger people to absorb and retain copious lists of vocabulary and verb tables compared to those of an older generation. While there is an element of truth to such an assertion, we must take a step back and reflect on why speaking a foreign language is such a valuable life skill, irrespective of a person’s age.
When it comes to learning a language, our concerns generally boil down to lacking the more malleable mind commonly associated with teenagers and young children. But, by doing this, we are depriving ourselves of opportunities to connect, interact and foster relationships with people from other countries, cultures and ways of life. Our ability to absorb new information does not simply ‘grind to a halt’ on hitting our twenties; we have every chance of achieving a high level of operational proficiency in our chosen foreign language, even if we begin learning it in our thirties, forties, fifties or beyond.
Bilingualism changes the way we socialise, think and live. It allows us to take different perspectives on global issues and enables us to empathise both with other language-learners and with native speakers of our chosen language. Whether this skill is developed more easily in younger years or more gradually during adult years, these reasons for learning a language serve as a useful reminder that the journey of bilingualism is not something from which only younger generations may benefit.
2. Teaching people with dementia a language is a waste of time: FALSE
Exposure to unfamiliar sounds, words and concepts when immersed in a new language serves as an extremely effective mental workout. Even if our brains cannot retain the new information on a long-term basis, they still process it to some extent. Continued exposure to a new language therefore stimulates the mind, effectively kick-starting the brain and keeping it healthier for longer. Not only this, but the new, foreign words and sounds floating around in our minds accumulate over time, increasing the capacity of what is known as ‘cognitive reserve’. For people living with dementia, this is crucial: improved cognitive ability is what facilitates stronger decision-making and multi-tasking skills, as well as a heightened ability to concentrate and communicate with others.
Over the course of an academic teaching block, I noted several improvements in how my students responded in class; how they interacted with each other and in their own personalities. By implementing a multi-sensory, interactive and fun approach to each class, my students became more engaged in the learning exercises and games. After a few weeks, one of them even came to class suggesting a language-learning game that they had come up with themselves. Another student - who came to class in Week 1 wholly unresponsive and slumped in her wheelchair - finished the teaching block writing poems and asking me to bring her translated Spanish newspaper articles on politics, history and the dreaded ‘B’ word!
While many of my students still may still be unable to hold their own in a bustling Spanish tapas bar, they’ve tapped into areas of their brains that haven’t been active for over four decades. They’ve been brought together in a new way, forging new friendships between them and have a newfound self-confidence in themselves and in their language learning.
Such first-hand, empirical examples affirm studies published by the University of Edinburgh showing that language learning can delay the effects of dementia, and potentially help protect the brain against decline.
It’s therefore time to leave your inhibitions aside, dust off your old dictionary and view language-learning as important as exercising or maintaining a balanced diet to maintain a healthy lifestyle! If you’re keen to find out the benefits of bilingualism for yourself, sign-up to one of Lingo Flamingo’s informal classes at https://www.lingoflamingo.co.uk/language-nest.