new language

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."

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 started learning Dutch a few years ago but it sort of tailed off, mainly because I haven't been there recently to practise it. (Not that this always helps as so many Nederlanders speak perfect English and want to assist a struggling foreigner by using our langusge).
I hadn't heard of Duolingo before but maybe I'll get back into it now. Thanks, Marydoll.

Eglantine your point about understanding the spoken language. I have that problem too (partly because of poor hearing.)
Especially with french, where we lived for 16 years. I can gabble away in french, read french newspapers, write letters in french, but have problems with comprehension when a french person is speaking. Parlez doucement!

I'm glad you mentioned about Duolingo being repetitive at the beginning Marydoll. I tried it for about 5 days and it was driving me mad! I'll try to stick with it a bit longer!

If you studied Latin, you will find Italian so much easier than German. Lots of Italian words are recognisable, as it is a Romance language.
Years ago I went to a Spanish conversation class and one day we had a different tutor, (very grumpy and no sense of humour) who thought we were more advanced than we actually were.
He gave us a difficult translation, which no-one could really understand, apart from me. He was really annoyed and demanded to know why I managed it and no-one else had. He was not amused when I said I didn't really know Spanish, I had recognised many of the words from Latin and was able to work out the gist of it.

I studied french and latin at school. Then in my 50s, hebrew. Which is easier than it seems - once you've learnt the alphabet it's completely phonic.
I tried to learn russian after I retired but gave up. As well as the alphabet, the grammar is v. difficult.
I would like to learn italian, such a musical language and seems to be a combination of latin and french.
I don't like the sound of german, though I do understand some of it:
Mein Dammen und Herren ....

I did cheat a little ?‍?I still have my Latin translation book ?

My word, I am impressed!

Tu autem velim vobiscum awful??

In Latin, please Bridgeit

And you could decline Jalima too

Jalima, - you are awful but I like you - (Dick Emery I think)

Might be die Sonne ist heiss (i wish it was,). But hey we had a lovely summer .
Will give it a go, thanks for the info Marydoll.

I knew there was something wrong Grandma70s!!!
I only did a term or so
I didn't enjoy it much.

Die Sonne, Jalima. Upper case initial letters for nouns in German.

I like German so that I can understand the poetry. I find other languages often easy to read, but much, much harder to speak.

Bridgeit it could be quite useful - if anyone understood you!
Shut that door

Der sun ist heiss, der wind is kalt
(I probably got that wrong and it's not much use anyway )

Do try Duolingo. There's a real satisfaction to seeing your progress. It's good for comprehension and structure. I'm working on my French and find watching find French tv series useful in absence of real-life experience.

French seems to be the general choice, but Latin is fascinating, that said Porto,portat, portatium are three words I most remember , not much help to anyone, saying I shut the door, he/she shuts the door, we shut the door, strangely, Ferme la fenetra (shut the window ) is the french phrase that is the first to pop into my mind. Must remind me of being unable to escape from the lessons!

Duolingo actually works out your level. I thought I would be clever and make it easy for myself by starting on basic German. It sussed me out pretty quickly and starting giving me more advanced questions!
It's a bit repetitive and boring to begin with, but try to stick with it.
My husband and I used to compete with each other, as you can track other users if you wish. He took it too seriously for me!

I’ll have a look at duolingo. Thanks. I only have a little French from school which does for shopping and directions, but apparently Norfolk people speak French with a strong Bavarian accent which I’ve found causes embarrassing situations. It’s handy to understand though even if I can’t speak it very well.

I had a go at German lessons a few years back but moving house meant I had to stop. I loved it - and don’t have a problem with the accent! Will have another go.

Thanks Marydoll for the information

I didn't know about duolingo - I might give it a whirl as I'm trying to learn Welsh and it's one of the languages mentioned. Thanks Marydoll

I started learning German but then decided it wouldn't be much use to me. I also went to French conversation classes to brush up my French but that was ages ago and it has gone rusty again.
Perhaps I'll try Spanish or Italian instead.
DGD keeps trying to teach me some Welsh!

I already speak several languages, but when I retired I decided to refresh them, as I was rather rusty.
I already speak French and German and used DUOLINGO, which is free and can be done on a tablet or computer.
www.duolingo.com
I'm now trying to improve my basic Italian. My husband has been learning Italian and Portuguese using this programme. As long as you have sound, it will help with pronunciation. It reminds you everyday to do it.
It has become a bit of an obsession with him and he has managed more than 1000 days without a break!!.
I'm a bit more lax, as I often don't have time to do it everyday.
It's worth a try, as it's free and gives you a taster if you decide to go to a language class.
Good luck.