Although it's debatable when the best time is to learn a language, one thing's for sure and that's at different ages, you learn differently. Just take a look below to learn how people learn at different stages in their lives.

As Young Children

Children are like sponges, they don't question grammar or pronunciation, they just learn to listen, understand and speak. A young child (from birth to about age 5) will have the ability to learn a language quickly and have native pronunciation.

While listening and speaking come easily, reading and writing, because of their age, are a bit more difficult. Another thing must be said about learning languages at a young age, if the child doesn't keep up with the language, they will lose it just as quickly as they learnt it.

Older Children

Children in primary and secondary school are able to read and write, so they get input from both reading and listening. Since they already have a native language, their pronunciation might not be as good as a child who learns another language at a younger age.

Another challenge is that since they are fixed in their native language, they might want to translate or think first in their native language. They will want to know the "why" behind the foreign language as well.

University Aged Students

At university, students' minds are more open to new ideas and concepts added to more free time than they had in secondary school which in turn allows them to study more makes learning a language at this age possible.

Adults

While adults have many things against them, such as being rooted in their native language and being fixed on the grammar of a foreign language, they also have a lot of things going for them. As an adult, they are stricter with themselves and their learning, they have time to study and are usually more disciplined than younger students.

Conclusion

Learning a language is possible at any age. With dedication and discipline, your students can be competent in English too.

Sharon de Hinojosa (naturegirl321) has lived and worked in the US, Scotland, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Korea, and Peru. As well as teaching short-term in Venezuela and Taiwan.

She has created TEFL Tips which has information for teachers from writing a CV, to giving a demo lesson, learning the local language, teaching tips for the classroom and more.

Since living in Peru since August 2004, she wrote The Ultimate Peru List http://www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com/ . With 80 pages it's a comprehensive guide for those living in or moving to Peru.