Can Adults Learn a New Language?

Is it possible to learn a language as an adult? And if it is possible, how is it

adult? And if it is possible, how is it different from learning a language as a child?

In this episode, we are going to be speaking all about the process of learning a language as a grown-up, as an

adult. Um, and I'm going to talk about

adult. Um, and I'm going to talk about my absolute favorite thing, which is how

I, as a 23 year old, I'm not 23 now, but when I was 23, I learned my very, very

first kind of extra language. So, prior

to that point, I only spoke English. And

I want to kind of explain what that experience was was like for me, some of the feelings I had at various different stages of language

learning. And maybe some of these stages

learning. And maybe some of these stages will be in the same point that you are.

Maybe you will relate to some of the things that I explain. Um, and you can know that, hey, if you are studying English, everything you're feeling right

now is probably very, very normal. My

name is Eevee and you are listening to the English podcast, a podcast to help English learners practice their listening comprehension while they do

other things. So listen to this while

other things. So listen to this while you walk the dog. Listen to this podcast while you brush your teeth. Anything. Um

it's for you to practice English while you are a busy person basically. I am

really really interested and really really passionate about the process of learning a language as an adult. So I

work as an English teacher and I only work with with adult students. Um, I

also make YouTube videos with with adults in mind. So, I will swear in my videos. It's because all of my audience

videos. It's because all of my audience is adult. But, I wanted to explain like

is adult. But, I wanted to explain like a little bit about my background and kind of my linguistic background as

well. So, you can understand why I

well. So, you can understand why I became so passionate and interested in languages.

I grew up in the UK. So I am from the UK. My family only speak English and in

UK. My family only speak English and in the UK we do study languages in school

but it's not you will struggle to find British people that speak languages other than English unless they maybe grew up in a family

which has you know grandparents or parents which speak another language as their mother tongue. Um, it's quite uncommon to find British people who

speak French or Spanish or, you know, something like this for any reason other than their parents are from there. Um,

we we do study languages in school in the UK, but it starts typically it starts when you are how old? 11 or 12 years old when you go to secondary

school, which is it's like our high school. Um, and you normally study

school. Um, and you normally study French, Spanish or German. And it's not even compulsory in many schools. So in

my school, you have to study it for two years, French or Spanish. But then you can choose if you want to study your

which one you want to do. I in school, this is so crazy now with my job, but I hated languages. I found them really,

hated languages. I found them really, really boring. I couldn't speak and I

really boring. I couldn't speak and I misbehaved in class like all the time. I

was so badly behaved in school. Um, so I did not study French. I did not study Spanish. I just I just could not

Spanish. I just I just could not understand like languages. For some

reason, my brain was just not interested. My whole life, basically all

interested. My whole life, basically all of my childhood and adolescence, I only spoke English.

The moment for me where this began to change is when I was at university. So I

went to university in London. I had my friend group, you know, all English speakers. Um, and then I went on a study

speakers. Um, and then I went on a study abroad. So I had a year studying abroad

abroad. So I had a year studying abroad in the United States. And if anyone here has been on study abroad before, you'll

probably know that usually all of the international kids or like adults, students, they all group together. I

guess because we're outsiders, because we're only there for one year, so we find other people who, you know, are only there for a short time as well. And

you kind of all go together. So I made friends with lots of people from all over the world. Um, in particular,

there were three Spanish people, two boys and a girl, and we all became friends, like this big group. And I had another friend who spoke English and

Japanese, another friend who spoke like Mandarin and English. And I was literally wowed

by my friends. like they we would go to Mexico and they could switch languages.

They would go on the phone with their parents and they could just switch between like English and and Japanese.

And I was so impressed [laughter] like I was so fascinated too because my brain only understood English. The idea

of having a brain that could think of things in two different ways or with two different linguistic structures was so

fascinating to me and so impressive and I my poor friends I had so many questions. I was like what language do

questions. I was like what language do you dream in? Which language do you think sounds more beautiful? I I had so many questions for my friends and they

were very lovely and answered all of my questions, but I was so inspired by them and and admired them so much and their ability to move to a new country and

speak English. I just thought they were

speak English. I just thought they were amazing. And eventually, um, I started

amazing. And eventually, um, I started dating one of the Spanish guys. It's my

boyfriend. He's he's still dating me now.

and we started dating and I went to Spain to visit his hometown and meet his family and meet his friends. And I only

spoke English still. I had not tried to learn Spanish.

And I went to Spain and I would go to like the bars or go to the restaurants and I would meet his friends. And

obviously if they're all together and they all speak Spanish, they're going to speak Spanish. So, and some people don't

speak Spanish. So, and some people don't actually, you know, speak great English or don't feel very confident with their English, which is, you know, I can't

expect everybody to change just for me.

So, I would be sat there and my boyfriend would have to like translate absolutely everything into Spanish. So I

would always be like 20 seconds behind in the conversation. I couldn't really contribute and I just remember feeling like this is

actually embarrassing because as a Brit we go away, we go anywhere in the world and and we just expect everybody to speak in English

with us. We do like we go abroad and we

with us. We do like we go abroad and we will quite confidently order food in English and just hope that everybody will speak English with us. And I

remember feeling like, okay, I I really need to try and try and learn Spanish so that when I go

to Spain, I can interact with people and like form a relationship with the, you know, the loved ones of my partner.

But I was I was really worried because I I genuinely believed at this point that you could learn a language as a child or

maybe as a teenager, but once you became an adult, I just believed it was impossible. I I don't know if I had read

impossible. I I don't know if I had read that online or whether it's just something that people say. They say that yeah, when you're a kid, your brain is

like a sponge and you can learn languages really easily, but when you're an adult, it's basically like never going to it's never going to happen is

what I I believed.

Um, but I decided, you know what? Like,

I'm not I'm not stupid. [laughter] Like,

I'm a clever person. Like, I Well, I hope so, but I I was like, I'm smart.

Like, I'm sure I can I can do this. So,

I had to go back to the UK for my final year of university and I decided to enroll in a beginner

Spanish course. Um, my degree was in

Spanish course. Um, my degree was in history, in international history, so languages had nothing to do with what I

studied. But I signed up and I was

studied. But I signed up and I was feeling like confident, guys. I was

like, you know what? like my like boyfriend is Spanish. Like I will be able to practice Spanish with him. Like

surely I'm going to go into this class and I'm going to like I'm going to smash this. I'm going to [laughter] I'm going

this. I'm going to [laughter] I'm going to get straight A's. And I went into that first week and I left and I was

absolutely mind blown. Like I was trying to

mind blown. Like I was trying to understand the fact that language does not only exist in one way and there were

really really basic concepts that were completely blowing my mind. After like a few weeks,

I was beginning to like sit some exams, like sit some writing exams, sit some speaking exams, and I was doing absolutely

awful, okay? Like I was getting B's, but

awful, okay? Like I was getting B's, but I'm somebody I want A+, you know? And I

I was there for three months and I was studying. I was going home and writing

studying. I was going home and writing flashcards and my grades still sucked and I could not understand why

I was so at Spanish and I was like, "Oh my god, what have I done? I have

signed up for this class, knowing full well that I'm 23 and I'm too old to ever learn a language." And it was the last

year of my degree and I was super stressed. And it got to a point where I

stressed. And it got to a point where I I went to my Spanish teacher and I started crying. [laughter]

started crying. [laughter] So dramatic now. It's like, oh my god, there are bigger problems in the world.

But I was just feeling so disheartened and I felt like learning a language was seriously impossible.

Um, and then I decided, okay, like my teacher told me, don't worry, this happens to everyone. like you are actually doing really well so stop

panicking basically. And I decided to go

panicking basically. And I decided to go away and go on Google and start searching like okay how what do people

recommend to learn Spanish on your own.

And when I was on Reddit, I found a post of somebody talking about a website called Dreaming Spanish, which is

basically like a website with videos for Spanish learners starting at like super beginner. So, somebody who knows

beginner. So, somebody who knows nothing, and going up to like an advanced level. It's not super advanced,

advanced level. It's not super advanced, but a more complicated level.

And the way these videos worked were they were designed to be understandable even if you did not know any of the

words. So right now I'm holding a glass

words. So right now I'm holding a glass of water and the video would be like this is a glass of water. Okay? Like you

can understand that, right?

And I was like, okay, if people on Reddit, you know, not a good source of information, but if people on Reddit say

that this is the way to study Spanish, then that's what I'm going to do. And

basically every single day in January, I would listen to videos in Spanish for I think like

at the beginning it was only half an hour every day and my brain would hurt.

I don't know if you have had this before. If you listen to lots of videos

before. If you listen to lots of videos in English, like your brain actually starts aching like it's done a workout.

Um and in the beginning that was what was happening to me. Um but with time I could listen to more and more and more and I started going to like an hour a

day and then 2 hours a day and then 3 hours a day crazy of listening to Spanish and this was the real moment

where I started to see great progress with with my language abilities.

So in the beginning I was only listening to Dreaming Spanish and then I started listening to like a gaming channel made for beginners called Spanish Boost

Gaming and a podcast by Espanol Conan.

And these two things like changed it for me, like changed learning Spanish because I would listen to the podcast when I was doing other things. And the

gaming videos were just so entertaining to watch that I could watch them for hours every day and not feel like I was

studying. Um, so shout out Spanish Boost

studying. Um, so shout out Spanish Boost Gaming because that is one of the things that inspired me to make this channel was the feeling of kind of watching

these these videos. Um,

anyway, I was feeling great. It was

coming up to the final exam for my Spanish course at university and I decided it would be a good idea to

visit my boyfriend in Spain, have like a week where I only spoke Spanish. So I

went to Spain. I was feeling so good.

Like for the first time I felt like I could actually sort of have a conversation. I was really bad at using

conversation. I was really bad at using like proper grammar. My past tense was rubbish. But I went to Spain and my my

rubbish. But I went to Spain and my my boyfriend said, "Oh, let's go hang out with with my friends, you know, the people that I had previously

been sat there and not saying anything."

And I was like, "Okay, yeah, like I've got this." And we went, there was like

got this." And we went, there was like 10 people sat at this table and everyone is speaking Spanish. And guys, I could

not understand a single word.

Like not one.

And I remember in this moment feeling so disappointed and upset because I had literally spent hours every day for

months studying Spanish. It had like taken over my life. And I really enjoyed it. And I really enjoyed the process.

it. And I really enjoyed the process.

But to work so hard at something and then be in this situation and be completely like helpless was so

discouraging and disappointing and you know I could not understand a word. Like it might as well have been

word. Like it might as well have been Arabic. Like I just could not understand

Arabic. Like I just could not understand anything. And I remember leaving this

anything. And I remember leaving this dinner and just again a lot of crying. I

cried. I literally left this dinner and cried because in English I think I I feel very confident like speaking with

new people and I feel very confident and outgoing. But in Spanish, I had this

outgoing. But in Spanish, I had this inability to be myself and it was really

it really like made me feel awful. Um,

again, I I tried to bounce back from it.

I went back to the UK. I did my exam. It

went really well. I got a great grade.

Flex. But, um, I got a great grade. And

then I was like, okay, if I'm going to, you know, understand these people in Spanish, like, I need to try and listen to more native content. I can't stay

with the learner content. Um, so I began to listen to some easier native content.

And I've mentioned this in a few videos, but from my experience with Spanish, if you can understand my videos, the easiest native content to then

understand is like true crime, reality TV, especially dating shows. And before

you tell me like that's bad advice because they don't speak properly, oh, just it doesn't matter. It's for

learning. You don't have to speak like Molly May. who is a famous reality TV

Molly May. who is a famous reality TV star. But it's just good to practice.

star. But it's just good to practice.

You don't have to speak like them. Okay.

Um, so true crime, reality TV, gaming videos are usually very descriptive of of what is happening. And some streamers as well will repeat themselves multiple

times so the chat like can catch up with them. So that's another good one. And

them. So that's another good one. And

once I started doing this, I feel like I started getting better. And then I started taking Spanish classes like one-on-one.

And then in January of 2025, no, 2026.

But this this January, I went back to Spain and for the first time, I could understand groups of people and it was literally

it was the best like most rewarding feeling because I'd spent so many hours studying and I finally could actually communicate in a in a conversation and

participate in a group setting. My

Spanish is not perfect. Um, but I now feel like it's actually usable. So that

was the most amazing thing ever and it just made it all feel worth it. This

this moment when I went to Spain, it was a whole week only in Spanish and there were very few moments where I felt out of my depth, like uncomfortable with my abilities.

The reason why I'm telling you this story, and I know it's very long, it's because it's like my favorite thing to talk about, but also I want you to know

that it is actually possible as as an adult. Um, I think many people say like

adult. Um, I think many people say like you can learn a language as a child um or you as an adult need to learn a

language like you did when you were a child. And as an adult, you feel like

child. And as an adult, you feel like you're on the back foot when it comes to language learning. Um, I have been doing

language learning. Um, I have been doing like a little bit of reading about this.

I am by no means an expert. I feel like with my linguistics reading, I'm a bit I'm still a bit behind. Like I'm still in the 1900s reading. I need to get some

more up to-date stuff. Um,

but adults can still learn languages. It's

just obviously a little bit different from when you are a child. And a lot of that is to do with mentality.

So, adults actually learn languages quicker than children do. And you might be like, "No way." But think about it.

Children, their brains are still developing. So it takes them years to

developing. So it takes them years to learn a language. Adults can understand rules much faster than children can. But

one thing that holds adult learners back is they always want to understand why.

They will be told a grammar rule and they think why or adults are very prone to it's very common for them to research

like I know I've done this. I will

research how to learn Spanish instead of actually engaging with the language or studying. So just try and avoid doing

studying. So just try and avoid doing that too much. Try and keep we say like the eyes on the prize. Okay? Keep the

eyes on the prize. Focus on what it is you should be doing which is engaging with English in a way that is fun and

enjoyable and that you you like to do.

I have many students now. All like I mentioned before, all of my students are adults and they range from like 18 to I

don't know how old my oldest student is, but in in his 60s and I see improvement in my students every single week, every

single month. If you want it and you're

single month. If you want it and you're an adult, do not let your age stop you because you can improve and you will

improve if you keep working and if you enjoy it, if you engage with it. In

particular, a lot of linguistics papers will speak about adult brains having like a filter. Okay, it's like a filter.

It's something which prevents information from going in to your brain.

Um, adults I feel like are worse at this because we try and analyze things because we lack confidence. We actually

prevent ourselves from fully engaging and enjoying and learning in a way that's fun. So, this is why I make

that's fun. So, this is why I make videos that are maybe more like vlogs or more casual. I think um it's because I

more casual. I think um it's because I was a really inspired by this Spanish boost gaming channel um because that was

one of the things that made me improve so much with Spanish is when I stopped overthinking it so much and having language learning be something that I

feel nervous about and sick about and awful. Then I just improved and improved

awful. Then I just improved and improved and improved. So enjoy English if you

and improved. So enjoy English if you can. If you ever want recommendations

can. If you ever want recommendations for, you know, native content, do let me know. I I have one video where I talk

know. I I have one video where I talk about some of my favorite YouTube channels, but I would also love to make one on like maybe TV shows or

documentaries.

I I just don't know what streaming platforms you guys have. Um, obviously

my audience is very international. So in

the UK we have like Netflix, some people have Amazon, some people might have like Disney Plus. I only have Netflix, but I

Disney Plus. I only have Netflix, but I I would love to know what you what you have and what you watch and then maybe I can give some some suggestions from there.

if you are trying to get a question to me, I am often better at checking comments on like my recent upload. So

anyway, just pop it in there or on my Instagram. I do check Instagram. Um, but

Instagram. I do check Instagram. Um, but

yeah, I just wanted to say I hope this was inspiring or useful.

um that you know now that learning a language as an adult, learning English as an adult is possible and you can do it and if you are listening to this

podcast, you are doing it. There are

lots of phrases and expressions and some good vocabulary in this one. So I I hope that you enjoyed it and have a lovely

rest of your morning or your afternoon or your evening. Thank you so very much.

I will see you in the next one.