FabSwingers.com > Forums > The Lounge > Knowledge of foreign languages lasts throughout life
Knowledge of foreign languages lasts throughout life
Jump to: Newest in thread
A new study conducted by the University of York has shown that people tested on foreign languages 50 years after they last sat an exam perform just as well as recent students.
The research saw 500 participants who had studied GCSE French or A-level from the 1970s until 2020 and tested their vocabulary and grammar.
The results revealed that there was no change in language proficiency over time.
Professor Monika Schmid, head of the university's Department of Language and Linguistics, said: "The knowledge of language is astonishingly stable over long periods of time, compared to other subjects such as maths, history or sciences.
"This is likely because of the way language is stored in memory.
"Vocabulary is memorised in the same way that facts, dates and names are, for example, and whilst this memory is vulnerable to erosion, grammar is learned in a similar way to riding a bike - a kind of muscle memory, which is much more stable."
Eh bien, c'est pratique à savoir....  |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
I can bear that out I think. I took up learning French many years after last studying it and it just all came back to me. I was surprised and in one class looked at the teacher all shocked and said
"I have no idea how I know that!"
|
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
This is true. I stayed in a very remote french village last week on my drive back from Spain and loads came back to me. Nobody spoke English and I got by fine. That was from my french o’level god knows how many years ago! I understood more than I could speak though. |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
 |
By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"This is true. I stayed in a very remote french village last week on my drive back from Spain and loads came back to me. Nobody spoke English and I sucked a lot of penises to get by. That was from my french o’level god knows how many years ago! I understood and blown more than I could speak though. "
Lucky French men  |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
"This is true. I stayed in a very remote french village last week on my drive back from Spain and loads came back to me. Nobody spoke English and I sucked a lot of penises to get by. That was from my french o’level god knows how many years ago! I understood and blown more than I could speak though.
Lucky French men "
Hahahahaha. Git |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
"This is true. I stayed in a very remote french village last week on my drive back from Spain and loads came back to me. Nobody spoke English and I sucked a lot of penises to get by. That was from my french o’level god knows how many years ago! I understood and blown more than I could speak though.
Lucky French men "
Zoot alors  |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
"This is true. I stayed in a very remote french village last week on my drive back from Spain and loads came back to me. Nobody spoke English and I sucked a lot of penises to get by. That was from my french o’level god knows how many years ago! I understood and blown more than I could speak though.
Lucky French men
Zoot alors "
I did actually get an A in my French oral  |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
I'm a glitch in this particular matrix. I studied Irish until 3rd year and French for O level and don't remember any of it apart from the odd word or two.
I wouldn't be able to construct a sentence. |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
Having lived in Spain and spoken both French and Spanish to a high degree of fluency, I'd agree that grammar is hard-wired but vocab is more easily eroded.
My experience is also that you retain a core of language skills but forget the rules that produce certain grammatical structures, which is unnerving when you've studied to degree level but then, how many people remember what they learned on a course 20-odd years ago? |
Reply privately, Reply in forum +quote
or View forums list | |
» Add a new message to this topic
