EXCUSES FOR NOT LEARNING ENGLISH-1

Good morning.

Over the years I have heard all sorts of excuses from English students to explain why they don't have a higher level. The most common excuses are:

1. I'm too old
2. I don't have time
3. I'm horrible with languages

More than excuses, when you state that you don't have time, are too old or are just horrible with languages, you are avoiding taking responsibility for your learning. Learning a language takes hard work, dedication, patience and perseverance. When students blame their slow progress on lack of time, age or inherent language-learning defects, they are really saying "learning English is not important enough to me...it's not really a priority in my life."

I'M TOO OLD
Different learning studies (with second languages and other subjects) have shown that as we get older, learning does becomes more challenging; that's no surprise. However, as far as I know there is no study that shows that you can't learn a language once you reach a certain age.

If you really want to learn English, you can, no matter how old you are; but again, it takes hard work, dedication, patience and perseverance. We have dozens of very successful students in Ziggurat that are more than forty-, fifty- or sixty-years-old. They are learning, thanks to their motivation and consistency in and out of class.

Tomorrow and Thursday we will analyse the other two common excuses for not progressing in English. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about today's Daily Vitamin, please post your comments by clicking on the "Add a Comment" button in the Daily Vitamin section on our website.

Enjoy the rest of your day.