My name is marie and I’m a NYC french Tutor 37 Wall street, New york, NY Have you ever noticed how some people can learn a second language very easily while others have a difficult time? In my experience, this is very true and this appears to be linked to age,  learning opportunities, motivation, among other variables.

From my research, there appears to be three main factors that influence the easiness at which people can learn a second language, including French of course:

Age: Age is one of the most important affective factors in Second Language Acquisition. Basically, the relationship is simple. Those who began learning a second language before age 11, show comprehension levels similar to those of native speakers. After such age, the ability to learn a language to a native level declines.

Personality: Yes, this may be surprising but apparently its true.  The two most noticeable traits in personality are introversion and extroversion. According to some, extroverts show better ability to learn a second language than introverts. It is believed that this relationship occurs because extroverts are less self-conscious about making mistakes, experience less social anxiety and have more confidence in themselves than introverts.

Motivation: This factor is pretty self-explanatory. Motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. In this case, motivation is the horsepower that will fuel the language learning process. A highly motivated person will end up with better results in the long-run only because of the greater effort they apply in their language studies.
For more french language tips and articles, visit my website: french4nyc.com