How difficult is it to learn Spanish as a second language as an older adult? (college, high school)

[City__Datarer]

Hi,

I'm living in a state where many employers are looking for bilingual (English/Spanish) employees and am interested in people's own experiences about how difficult it is to learn Spanish as a second language as an adult.

I would say I have strong language skills in English but only average aptitude for acquiring a second language (did fine in high school French but am sure it was easy for me because of the overlap with English, which Spanish would fortunately also have; I definitely don't have the "ear" for language that lets some people easily pick up languages with no similarity to English and/or pick up a language just by being around people who are speaking it, without formally studying it).

But I do enjoy studying languages, so would put in some serious time, try to immerse myself by reading novels and online sites in Spanish for fun once I had the basics down, etc.

I would not expect, at my age, to become entirely fluent (to be able to function successfully in a solely Spanish-speaking work environment), but for some of the jobs I've seen I think the employer just wants the person to be able to communicate/obtain some basic info--so some basic conversational fluency plus acquiring some extra proficiency in the language that comes up in that workplace to answer routine questions, and then direct the person to someone else in the company if more detailed, complicated conversations are needed.

I'd be especially interested in hearing from others who have tried to learn Spanish as adults (or who teach Spanish to adults, for instance in continuing ed) because adult brains (again, except for the people who have an ear for language) are not as "wired" to acquire new languages as children's are. (Wondering if at my age I'll have less success learning Spanish compared to when I studied French in high school.)

Thanks!

[AnotherTouchOfWhimsy]

I had a horrendous time learning languages in high school, but was able to pick up German with no problem as an adult. I don't have an "ear" for language; I'm very very visually oriented, plus I'm a total (English) grammar nazi, so that helps. . The "Everything Learning German" book walked me through most of what I needed to know, grammar-wise; now it's just a matter of picking up more vocabulary. I think you'd be surprised at how easy it can be when you're not stuck learning at a snail's pace in school. Give it a try! What do you have to lose?

Oh, and check out the Irish Polyglot at Fluent in Three Months (I think you can just add a dot com, otherwise google it)! He's fluent in several languages and he's learning as an adult.

[City__Datarer]

Thanks, that's encouraging to hear! And interesting link.

[James1202]

I find Spanish is easier to pronounce because nearly everything seen on the page is pronounced, unlike French.
It's easier for me to say uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis... than it is to say un, duex, trois, quatre, cinque, six... (the French is said from the back of the throat and through the nose)
Also, in the last 20 yrs., Spanish labelling and TV programming makes Spanish so accessible compared to French (unless one is in Canada). Who doesn't know, "Hasta la vista, baby"? or "Yo quiero Taco Bell"?

My only problem with Spanish is that I have a larger French vocabulary and plug-in a French word automatically if the Spanish doesn't come to mind. They're both Romance languages so there is a similarity.

I tried German but the guttural was impossible for me. Italian was difficult because it seemed like every verb is irregular...I fake it by speaking Spanish with an Italian accent...I figure I've got to be right about one-third the time.

No, of Spanish, French, Italian, and German (and a smattering of Thai and Japanese) I found Spanish the easiest to pick up the basics.

Joke (I don't know the correct Spanish):
A man walks into a clothing store and says, "Yo requiero los pantalones" (I require pants).
The salesman, not knowing Spanish, takes the man to the shirt rack.
Man: "No, no. [Yo] Busco (I look) los pantalones"
The salesman takes him to the ties. Which are rejected by the man.
Again and again the salesman takes him to different articles of clothing that obviously isn't what the Spanish man is looking for.
Frustrated the man begins to leave and the salesman follows him to open the door.
Suddenly the Spanish man stops, points, and says, "Eso si que es".
The salesman says, "Socks? Well, why didn't you say so?"

[anadyr21]

Since you've got some experience with learning another language, it should be a bit easier for you than for others. I learned some Spanish in high school, but starting learning German in adulthood. After about a year of German, I could understand basic conversations and could read simple articles and stories, but speaking it, well, very heavy American accent (so I've been told), and my verb tenses were all over the place. So, with the abundance of Spanish in everyday life, it's certainly doable.

I've found a bunch of websites that are the online component to textbooks (and do not require a password or a subscription to the textbook). The online activities have flashcards, with the written word and (audio) pronunciations, conversations (to translate), and sentence completion activities (for grammar). You can download the audio also. Livemocha.com should still have a lot of free, online language activities.

I'm in the same boat that you are. Being bilingual is an automatic pay raise at my job. I have to decide whether I want to learn the most useful language, and therefore, transferable for many other jobs, or the one I'm actually interested in, which is very limited in usefulness outside of my current job.

[City__Datarer]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

I once in a previous job was trying to communicate with someone who spoke no English, only French. I have always (because of the pronunciation/accent issues that one of you discussed) had more trouble communicating verbally than reading/writing French.

I finally asked her to type what she was trying to ask/tell me into a translator program online (in French). As she was doing that, I understood completely what she was trying to communicate (just by reading what she was typing in French; I didn't need to hit the translate button after all). I'm hoping spoken Spanish will be easier in this respect, and from what some of you have said, I'm optimistic.

I know that opportunities to practice speaking help a lot, too. I never had much of an opportunity to practice French (with French speakers) but would have more opportunity to practice Spanish.

Thanks again.

[psr13]

I often hear from people who speak English as a first language and learned both Spanish and French that Spanish is easier than French at the beginning. However, when you get deeper into the language and grammar, Spanish becomes more difficult than French. Also, I wouldn't count on really being able to practice Spanish. At least where I live (lots of Spanish speakers), a whole lot of people who speak Spanish do not like it when non-Hispanics try to speak Spanish.

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by City__Datarer

I'd be especially interested in hearing from others who have tried to learn Spanish as adults (or who teach Spanish to adults, for instance in continuing ed) because adult brains (again, except for the people who have an ear for language) are not as "wired" to acquire new languages as children's are. (Wondering if at my age I'll have less success learning Spanish compared to when I studied French in high school.)

Thanks!

That is widely believed, even in the language professions, but it is far from proven. Your chances will be as good as anyone else's, regardless of age. How well you learn is more a factor of 1-your personality, 2-your motivation, and 3-your exposure to the language. A class is important, but you really need to have some level of immersion or at least a lot of constant, real-world practice to learn and maintain the language. Otherwise, nothing learned in class really "sticks." If you want to become fluent quickly, I would suggest investing in a summer intensive program either overseas or at one of the well-known language schools (like Monterey, Middlebury if they still do that, etc.). Watch out for intensive programs that don't offer a lot of heavily enforced speaking practice. Otherwise, a class at any local college or adult education program will be as good as anything else, and if you actually use the language regularly you should be able to obtain some level of proficiency in a relatively short amount of time. Spanish is not hard to learn.

[City__Datarer]

Thanks for the further replies and recommendations.

I feel pretty encouraged by what everyone's said that learning the basics wouldn't be too difficult. But just curious, PSR13, about the specifics of what you said about Spanish becoming harder as you get into it more deeply.

I'm asking just because I find the details of grammar/language interesting--for instance, details like the fact (I've been told) in German the form of the noun changes depending on whether it's being used as a subject or an object. Is it something along those lines that you're referring to--that when you get past the basics of grammar, there are fine points of grammar/syntax that differ from English? Or is it that simpler vocabulary has more cognates/overlap with English than more advanced vocabulary? Or something else?

Marie5V, great suggestions--it would be so much fun if I could study abroad right now (was always a dream of mine--closest I got was a summer in Montreal). Maybe someday. But at least with DVDs with foreign language soundtrack options and the Internet, there are a lot more opportunities for immersion at home (if one can find the discipline to take advantage of them) compared to when I was studying French in high school.

[psr13]

Eh, I don't remember all the specifics of why it's supposed to be harder. I think it has to do with verb tense usage or something.