When we were younger, it was extremely easy for us to pick up a new language. Speaking from personal experience, aside from English, I picked up Korean extremely quickly. However, as a junior in college, trying to learn a new language, especially Chinese is really difficult and time-consuming.
As young children, our brains are very adaptable and flexible to consume information and knowledge. However, as adults, our brains have already developed and trying to learn anything new is more difficult to do than when we were younger. As I'm currently taking my second Chinese course, I have picked up quite a lot of study tips for learning a new language at an older age.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when you learn a new language is that you have to put in a lot of time and effort. When I first started learning Chinese, I studied and practiced writing characters every single day for at least two hours. It was really time-consuming in addition to all the other college work I had to do. And now that I am currently learning Chinese in China, it only became harder and even more time-consuming. However even though I have to study and practice writing Chinese characters every day, it is definitely a bit easier in that everyone around me speaks Chinese. Also, the students here are a bit more familiar in that they are very helpful in helping me practice speaking and writing characters.
Another tip to learning a new language at an older age is to practice speaking the language daily. Although we are heavily inclined to speak our home and most comfortable language, speaking the new language you are learning is extremely helpful in getting through new words and sentences. It can be quite difficult with such a smaller vocabulary, but putting in the effort to speak all the new words you learned will definitely help you when learning more into the language. Also, watching some television or movies in the new language is helpful in expanding your vocabulary and understanding the language when people speak to you.
All I can say about learning a new language at an older age is that it is definitely more difficult and challenging. However, putting in the time and effort will make you appreciate how easy it was when we were all younger. On the other hand, aside from it being challenging and difficult, it puts a new front to my academic workload. I get to see and experience a new field of study that is different from what I originally study in college, as it is all in English.
