Sunday, May 18, 2014

MASTERING A LANGUAGE LATE IN LIFE …


HELLOW. A new week starts tomorrow.
While viewing responses to a particular question posted in Quora (the Q&A social network) this evening, it was interesting to note a particular answer.

The Q had something like: “Is it too late for me that I am still struggling to do/get something right?” 
A particular response given listed people who became successful in their late 30s, 40s and 50s – including the founders of “WhatsApp”.

One that caught my attention was of a British grandmother who started learning Russian at 54 and received her PhD when she was 74 years old.
That is consolation indeed for anybody who wants to learn/try something new – a bit late in life.

About the lady: Dr Mary Hobson studied Russian at 54 so she could read the original version of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”.
Wikipedia says, at 62, she enrolled at London University.
She received her PhD when she was 74 – she did translations of a Russian author’s works as part of her doctoral thesis.
As of March 2014, Hobson, in her late 80s, continue to take on new products.

Dr Hobson’s story should be a morale booster for any of us learning a foreign language – French, Spanish, Japanese or Arabic.
May you all have a nice week.

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