new language

I speak French and Spanish (learnt Spanish from scratch in my thirties), but have been trying to teach myself Russian for several years now without getting very far.
The grammar is way more complicated than my other languages, and the vocabulary just won't stick in my memory either.
I never had those problems with French or Spanish, so I'm fairly sure that my problems with Russian are to some extent down to age, even though I am still in my fifties
Note to self: must start using Duolingo again!

I agree, MamaCaz. I'm sure age does have something to do with it! I'm finding it harder and harder to learn a new language as I get older.

We had a number of Eastern European pupils in my school and it amazed me how quickly they picked up the other languages we taught, (French and Italian) once they had mastered English, as their second language.

I remember reading an article which stated that language learning helps improve people's thinking skills and memory abilities. Bilingual students concentrate better, ignoring distractions more effectively than those who only speak one language. The language centres in the brain are so flexible, thatlearning a second language can develop new areas of your mind and strengthen your brain's natural ability to focus."