Learning a new language: Why is it hard when you're older?

So this is something that has been bothering me. I've been studying Japanese since recently, and it's pretty much the most difficult thing I've ever gotten myself into.

However, that made me wonder. When I learnt English back when I was a kid (started around the age of 6, maybe?), learning that was really easy. That was while living in an area where no one spoke English. So it wasn't learnt the way that native speakers learn as kids. But it was still really easy.

Of course, Japanese is harder to learn than English anyway, but the difference seems to be much greater than it really is. Sometimes it is even hard to remember simple words.

Has anyone else felt that way about learning a language? Why would this be, I wonder? Is it because one has much more thoughts running around in his/her head when older than when he/she was a kid?

Because we've evolved to pick up language from our parents (or whoever else we're around) at a young age. Of course the brain is going to be optimised for this, because — I presume — throughout the majority of history a human would just learn one language at childhood and that'd be it. I'd also guess that some of your difficulties in learning Japanese result from how different it is from your mother tongue — that doesn't really have anything to do with age, just what you're used to.

Also, I don't think learning a language is particularly hard at all. Just very time consuming, particularly if you don't get exposure to the language in your day-to-day life as a native speaker would.

When you get older, it's harder for the brain to create new pathways to be able to learn new stuff.

When you're younger, it's easier to create new pathways so it's easier in a way to learn.

I've always sucked at languages other than English though since I cba to learn thoroughly.

quote Whelan

I've always sucked at languages other than English though since I cba to learn thoroughly.

^this. ive been in sweden for over 3 years, and i still dont know how to say basic shapes in swedish. i just never bothered, but its likely because in the back of my mind, there was something telling me that theres no point if im not going to live here.

Your interneurons have already made a lot of synaptic connections for memory. When you were young, you had less, so more room to learn. It's just a part of being physical creatures.

Children are able to learn language at an early age better than adults later in life. This is a known fact. It has something to do with brain development. In fact, we start learning language at birth by hearing others use it.

I learned Spanish in High School and Arabic (plus the levantine dialect) in college. Not too bad.

it's the same way with ballerinas
u can only start young, any older than young then ur hopeless!!!
i think it's cuz of the bones.. young bones are more malleable, ageing only cause it to brittle..

if i translate it to brain..
uhh
well ypong brains are clueless and so have more potential for learning new stuff
and old brain is just old and tired