The older you get the more difficult it is to learn to speak Arabic like a native. But no one knows exactly what the cutoff point is—at what age it becomes harder, for instance, to pick up noun-verb agreements in a new language. In one of the largest linguistics studies ever conducted—a viral internet survey that drew two-thirds of a million respondents—researchers from three Boston-based universities showed children are proficient at learning a second language up until the age of 18, roughly 10 years later than earlier estimates. But the study also showed that it is best to start by age 10 if you want to achieve the grammatical fluency of a native speaker.
As quoted in Scientific American.
So the first take away from the aforesaid research published in Scientific American for an Arabic language learner would be that it is not going to be an easy task to learn Arabic, after the age of 18. For the most basic reason, there is no simple universal way to do that!
To top it, there are several other factors that play a major role in deciding your learning curve and the duration of your journey ‘to learn Arabic’. A few of many considerations, specific to each individual, are as under:
What’s your level of engagement! This becomes way critical when you are over 40, because you are in a responsible job, married, or have kids, parents, grandparents to look after! Amidst all these, how many hours you can spare each day, is a point of great concern. Because if your learning is limited to weekends it wouldn’t work! Remember the research published in Scientific American and prepare yourself for war! It is going to take much more effort, time and probably money than if you were five years old.
Whether you are living in a foreign country that neither has as many resources to support your learning, nor considers it a priority! Or are you in an Arabic speaking country that supports you wholeheartedly – whether you opt for travel immersion or community learning!
Whether you are into an intensive course with multiple instructors or learning from a downloaded app! It’s largely unfair to expect an app to teach anything beyond the basics of a language!
Whether you are steadily moving ahead with realistic goals or are burning out due to over-ambitious goals!
Whether you settle for nothing less than a well-structured course that teaches you intensely or are you content at learning anything unstructured and random.
Whether you are motivated enough and can invest enough energy to pull along or are getting embarrassed and overwhelmed about making mistakes and feeling deterred from learning the language!
Whether you have identified ‘your unique way of learning and are focussing right through it, if not, are you willing to experiment with the best learning style that would work great, for your age under all the aforesaid considerations?
Try learning Arabic in an adventurous way – the much proven, travel immersion! Living in Francophone countries imparts learner loads and loads of advantages besides an experience of a lifetime to cherish if you have the time and the resources! Living in the environment of the language does have a lot to offer but what to do, in case that’s not feasible? Try seeking conversation partners in your neighbourhood, or an Arabic community in and around. Assuming for some reason even these aren’t an option? Then we peacefully rest ourselves on the online community of native speakers at Italki, Hello Talk, Tandem and many more to communicate and seek feedback.
Listen to as many reliable audio resources as you can find online. It not only improves your listening but also helps you improvise on your speaking skills. Mimicking is the first basic technique that a child learns when days old to speak to his parents. Utilize this technique to the best of your ability. Ape the audio material, record yourself and repeat!
Use mnemonics to your advantage!
Why leave YouTube behind?! Look for video lessons, audio pronunciations and so much more!
Look for useful and effective resources. There is a wealth of resources online but it takes a sharp eye to separate great from mediocre!
Look for good books to learn Arabic.
Surf through scribd.com. Lessons based on simple sentences are easy to learn, with the basics of grammar explained with the sentence using that changes over time.
Learning can be a challenge as an adult, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Just remember mankind is known to push in the face of adversity and challenges “Achieving the Unachievable” for ages!
Learn Arabic alphabets the sing-along way, just as it is taught to children in elementary school. Learn a new language starting with the ABC’s, singing along the tune. Arabic toddlers learn the song Alif Ba Ta (an Arabic song), something they will remember even as they grow up!
An enlightening tip!
Did you know, Alzheimer patients forget the names of their spouses and children but almost never forget the lyrics to songs! There is a connection between language and music.
Learn Arabic through music! When we sing along with songs we match the accent, speed, pitch, tonality and grammar.
Finally, there is no progress without practice. Practise, review, repeat!
