什么時(shí)候?qū)W習(xí)一門(mén)新外語(yǔ)不算晚？

Perhaps you've toyed with the idea of learning a second or third language. But as an adult, is learning a new language too monumental of a task to undertake?

Let's look at what we know about language development. Early childhood — infancy until age 5 — is a particularly sensitive period when children's brains are primed to learn language.

According to Thomas Bak, Ph.D., a neuroscientist from the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, children first learn sounds, and then acquire the basic rules of grammar. Then comes vocabulary, which continues to accumulate throughout life. (Microbiome, microagression, net neutrality, safe space, and Seussian are just a few of the 1000 new words that Merriam-Webster added in 2017.)

From birth through puberty, children learn language rapidly and efficiently due to their naturalbrain plasticity and cognitive flexibility. After puberty, however, language acquisition becomes progressively more difficult, and our ability to learn new languages steadily declines.

There's some individual variability in the age of this decline, Bak says, due to natural ability. But a slight decline does occur in all people at some point, whether it be in their 20s or 30s.

Nienke Meulman, who has published research on age and grammar acquisition effects on the brain, says the adage,"'The later, the harder' is definitely true, but there is no clear cut-off age." Even for late learners it is possible to become proficient in a second language, Meulman says.

Bak, who has conducted research on language and aging, tells Business Insider, "the thing which is most difficult to learn as we age is ... sounds." So while you may become more proficient in speaking and communicating in a second language other than your native language, if it's learned after puberty you won't ever speak with a local accent.

"Very often people are completely focused on the idea to sound like a local, but this is in fact the most difficult aspect," Bak says. While your pronunciation of a language will sound best if you learn it early, building your vocabulary and communicating well in a different language is attainable at any age.

Though it may get more difficult, the benefits of learning a new language are immense.

"Difficult is not a bad thing," Bak says. He compares language use to physical activity, where it may be more difficult to achieve physical health as you age, but the more you work out, the better off you are. And just as the benefits of exercise become more crucial as we age, so too do the cognitive benefits.

Because GPS and smartphones can do so much of our thinking for us, our mental acuity can suffer, especially as we age.

"It's not about making things easy, it's about making things worthwhile," says Bak. And his research supports the notion of how worthwhile language learning can be in later life, and that we can indeed learn all our life.

He tells the story of a woman he met when she was 92. With very little prior foreign language knowledge, she had began studying Russian at the age of 56. At age 75, she went on to write her Ph.D. thesis about Russian poets, and now at age 92 is one of the most acclaimed translators of Russian poetry into English.

"My main message is that it's never too late," says Bak. "The main message is about empowerment."

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你是否曾考慮過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)第二或第三語(yǔ)言?但對(duì)成年人而言，學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言是否太過(guò)艱難?眾所周知，兒童在嬰幼兒時(shí)期(0-5歲)格外敏感，他們的大腦非常擅長(zhǎng)學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言。

愛(ài)丁堡大學(xué)的神經(jīng)學(xué)家Thomas Bak表示，兒童首先學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)音，其次掌握基本語(yǔ)法規(guī)則，然后擴(kuò)充詞匯量——在人的一生中，詞匯量會(huì)不斷地積累。從出生到青春期，由于天生的大腦可塑性和認(rèn)知靈活性，兒童能夠迅速而高效地學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言。然而，在青春期結(jié)束后，學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言會(huì)變得越來(lái)越困難，我們學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言的能力會(huì)逐漸下降。

所有人都無(wú)法避免語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)能力退化的現(xiàn)象，但具體年齡節(jié)點(diǎn)存在個(gè)體差異——也許是二十歲，也許是三十歲。因此，即便你很晚才開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)外語(yǔ)，仍然有可能熟練掌握。

隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，最難學(xué)習(xí)的部分是語(yǔ)音語(yǔ)調(diào)。因此，即便你能夠熟練運(yùn)用第二語(yǔ)言進(jìn)行交流，但如果這門(mén)語(yǔ)言習(xí)得于青春期之后，那么你將永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法掌握正宗的口音。很多時(shí)候，人們非常注重口音問(wèn)題，希望說(shuō)得像本土人一樣;但其實(shí)，這恰恰是最難的部分。別喪氣，雖然學(xué)習(xí)越早發(fā)音越好，但任何年齡都能夠積累詞匯量、并進(jìn)行流利的交流。

盡管學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言越來(lái)越困難，但學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程益處多多。我們可以將學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言和鍛煉身體進(jìn)行類比——隨著年紀(jì)的增長(zhǎng)，我們?cè)絹?lái)越難保持身體健康;話雖如此，但你越鍛煉身體，身體狀況會(huì)越好。年齡越大，鍛煉身體越重要，鍛煉認(rèn)知也是如此。如今，GPS和智能手機(jī)代替我們思考許多事情，這反而損害了我們的認(rèn)知敏銳度。當(dāng)我們?nèi)找嫠ダ蠒r(shí)，學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言雖然困難，但卻能夠鍛煉認(rèn)知。因此，“活到老學(xué)到老”這句話非常有道理。

Bak告訴我們，他曾經(jīng)遇到過(guò)一位92歲的老太太。她從56歲起開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)俄語(yǔ)。75歲時(shí)，她完成了一篇關(guān)于俄羅斯詩(shī)歌的博士論文。如今，她是享有盛譽(yù)的翻譯家，負(fù)責(zé)將俄羅斯詩(shī)歌翻譯成英語(yǔ)。

記住，學(xué)習(xí)絕不言遲!