Language learning has a lot more to do with motivation and perseverance than with age. Your memory might not be what it was twenty years ago, but the loss is balanced out by more common sense and a longer life experience.

When I first started teaching Spanish many years ago, I was surprised to see how many people in their sixties and seventies wanted to learn the language. I had often heard, and assumed, that trying to learn anything past, say, forty, was a waste of time. I soon discovered that that was just a myth. My best students have always been retired people with a determination to learn Spanish that I’ve rarely seen in my younger pupils.

Today, after having been proved wrong in my assumption time and time again, I’m a great supporter of adult education. I strongly believe that if you really want something in life, you can get it, no matter how impossible it may seem. Learning a foreign language is no exception. If you have enough motivation and perseverance, you can do it, whatever your age! Go for it!

This article was written by Maria Fernandez, an experienced Spanish teacher, creator and author of Spanish for Beginners - cdrom, our Spanish podcasts plus interactive multimedia lessons, Spanish Phrasebook on Podcast, and other language learning publications.