Am I Too Old To Learn A Foreign Language Such As Spanish? And Other Excuses

One question that I am frequently asked is "am I too old to learn Spanish?" or "am I too old to learn a foreign language?" The answer to that question is "no, you are never too old to learn a language." But these are actually excuses for not a foreign language more than they are inquiries about learning a foreign language. Let me borrow a story from history that I hope will encourage you to eliminate your excuses and start learning your language of choice.

The year was 1519. With a force of 600 men, and less than 20 horses and ten small cannons Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez landed in Vera Cruz to conquer the Aztec empire of more than 5 million people.

To prevent his own small force of less than 600 men from deserting, Cortez "burned his ships." And then he gave his men a speech and told them that they could "fight or die."

Why did he burn his own ships?

He wanted to eliminate any alternative or any excuse the men could have for losing and returning to Spain. Besides, "burning the ships" also gave the men a powerful motive to win.

Do you have excuses for not reaching your language-learning goals? Here are a few excuses that I have heard over the years.

"I don't have time."
"I don't have anyone to practice with."
"I only learn visually."
"I am only an auditory learner."
"I only learn with text"
"I don't like my Spanish course."
"I don't like my Spanish instructor."
"I don't like my Spanish class."
"I am too old to learn."
"I am too young to learn another language."
"Spanish speakers speak too fast"
"I can't stay motivated."

Whether these are valid or invalid excuses is not the point that I am trying to make. The point is that these excuses will stop you from reaching your Spanish-learning goals.

Cortez knew that "burning the ships" would give his men a powerful motive to win. What gives you a powerful motive to learn a language?

Maybe it's a better paying position with your company that will require you to speak Spanish. Maybe it's knowing that you will attract more Spanish speaking customers to your business. Maybe you are motivated by knowing that learning Spanish will bring you more enjoyment when traveling to Latin America or Spain. Maybe it's meeting knew friends or a significant other that is a native Spanish speaker. Or maybe you are just motivated from the sheer enjoyment that comes from being able to speak another language.

Whatever it is that will motivate you to learn Spanish, move this motive to the forefront of your most dominant thoughts. And visualize yourself reaching your learning Spanish goals.

Learn a foreign language b learning to "burn your ships." That's by convincing yourself that you cannot turn back, and that you must accomplish all of your language-learning Spanish goals. Regardless of whether that goal is to become functional, conversational or completely fluent in another language, make a commitment to yourself that you will accomplish your Spanish-learning goals.

Pat Jackson is the Founder of Learning Spanish Like Crazy - the only learning Spanish method that teaches real authentic everyday conversational Latin American Spanish. If you would like to get FREE Instant access to the first 2 MP3 audio lessons of Learning Spanish Like Crazy and get FREE instant access to 10 learning Spanish videos from one of our BEAUTIFUL native-Spanish speaking Latina instructors, then go here now: Learn Spanish online That's http://www.LearningSpanishLikeCrazy.com/