Re: (teach) listening to the elders

[Merton Bland]

Pablo Soto believes that saturation is the key to reaching seniors in the 60-70 range. Well, what about old f-ts like me (I'm 78)? The rote memory ability peaks around puberty and atrophies there-after. By the time one gets to be my age it is practicaly gone; you need mnemonic devices or the like.  One of the students in my seniors class celebrated her 100th birthday on April 1st.  And projections show that half the babies born this year will reach 100. Are we to just give up on the over-70s?

Mer- Dr.M.L.Bland, Arlington, VA, USA




     

[karenstanleyma-3]

Merton commented on the fact that our ability to do rote memorization has declined significantly as we age.

I find (at 61) that devices such as flash cards (whether paper and pencil or computerized), practicing standardized dialogues aloud (over and over and over again), and recycling everything on a regular basis help me retain new language items.  I just have to do MORE than I used to of all these things.

My experience is that the ability to learn and apply grammar rules does not decline with age.  However, if that method doesn't work for you when you are young (and here I mean young adult), I doubt (though do not know for sure) that it will work when you are old.  For those of us who are able to use grammar rules to our advantage, it's a help that that skill seems to endure.

Those of us who are older must just expect to do more work and accept slower progress.  If you are ready to work harder and benefit less,  even old folks like me can acquire *some* degree of competence in a new language.

Karen
http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.edu

[Nelson Bank]

>old folks like me can acquire *some* degree of competence in a new language.>


Having recently turned 60, I noticed that my philosophy of language has deepened.  I understand the structure of the grammar of language better.
Since I learned a second language at age 7, I developed a subconscious ability for language acquisition.  I used the ability while in China, and became a proficient haggler for vegetable purchases on country roadsides, as well as a soft talker to wait for the train in the soft-sleeper waiting room even though I only had a hard sleeper ticket.
I never felt I wasn't learning at an acceptable rate in this full immersion 'classroom'.  I did avail myself however of a few months of grammar lessons at a reputable Chinese university.
Nelson Bank

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Pablo Soto-2]

Karen, commenting on Merton's claim that rote memorization ability atrophies with age, said that she still uses the same methods to learn, but has to do MORE than she used to of all these things.
______________________

I would like to mention or propose that our cognitive  abilities decline as we age because of several factors- age is not being one of them- consider your health and your diet and also as teachers and learners I believe that we are demanding too much from our brain. If we were to not overstimulate our brain we would have better results in learning a language. I am just saying,
Pablo Soto

[karenstanleyma-3]

Pablo Soto wrote:
>
> Karen, commenting on Merton's claim that rote memorization ability atrophies with age, said that she still uses the same methods to learn, but has to do MORE than she used to of all these things.
> ______________________
>
> I would like to mention or propose that our cognitive  abilities decline as we age because of several factors- age is not being one of them- consider your health and your diet and also as teachers and learners I believe that we are demanding too much from our brain. If we were to not overstimulate our brain we would have better results in learning a language.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This seems unlikely to me.

For one thing, my ability to analyze and apply grammatical rules does not decline, only my ability to *memorize* rapidly/easily.

Also, as imperfect as it is, Alzheimer's research seems to indicate that learning NEW things, in particular new languages, appears to help slow down the onset of Alzheimer's.  Some scientists hypothesize that this is because new learning creates new neural pathways.  This means that if some of the neural connections are destroyed by the disease, a brain that has built more connections has greater choice for re-routing retrieval of information.

However, we actually know very little about how memory works, so take it for what it's worth...

Karen
http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.edu