Tuesday 25 November 2014

While we are on the subject of languages...

I was remembering an example my linguistics professor gave years ago of how you can string prepositions together. Some boys were playing in the basement under the stairs, and their mother called down to them, "Come on out from down in under there!" Seven in one blow! It can still make me smile.

There is an article in today's Metro newspaper about the advantages of learning other languages and how it exercises your brain. It used to be thought that your brain stopped developing or changing much after childhood, but it appears that, in fact, you can enhance your brain physically at any age.

My great-grandmother studied a little German when she was in her 80s. She did it, I think, because my brother served a mission for two years in Germany and she wanted to be able to share some of that experience with him. At the same time, her roommate at the nursing home - in her 90s - went back to school to study criminology and psychology with the idea of becoming a private investigator (most likely after reading too much Miss Marple). I had a friend who began med school at age 59. You're never too old to learn something new.

No comments:

Post a Comment