Can an adult learn a second language and become fluent?

i agree that pimsleur is the best way to begin to learn the basics of a new language (as well as the accent). i am an american who moved to france at age 40 without knowing the language before i left, and i still struggle with it, but i've been told that it takes the average kid 1 year and the average adult 3 years to learn the language. my children, being very young and immersed in a french school, are already fluent. my husband is also american, but grew up with a french speaking father, so he picked up the language in no time. there are many british families in this area of france. their children pick the language up much faster, of course, but the parents have assured me that within a few years i will be speaking like a native, too. it takes longer for an adult, but it is definitely possible!

as for sounding 'funny', or not getting the accent down, it all depends. i grew up in the midwest and moved to louisiana as a teenager. for years everyone in louisiana teased me for sounding like a 'yankee', but later on, whenever i returned to the midwest to visit family, they all teased me for sounding like a southerner! if you're in one place long enough you're going to pick up the rhythms of speech, the sayings, the accent, etc., without even realizing it.

i honestly believe that high school or college french classes aren't the best way to learn a language. they can't hurt, i suppose, but i took french in high school and college and what i remembered from the experience was pretty useless once i got to france. i think it would help you tremendously if you watched spanish television (available in most places in the u.s.), if you used a basic language program like pimsleurs, and if you could of course live in a spanish speaking country, or at least speak regularly with a friend fluent in spanish.

we live in the country, but whenever we have someone over for dinner or when i go into town, i prepare myself by researching some phrases i think i might need with an on line translator. many of them are too literal to be practical, but imtranslator.com (free) is more reliable than most. it also has audio clips so you can hear the accent.

you will learn it in time. the amount of time depends on your circumstances and involvement in the language. good luck!

In my experience its possible to learn any language fluently even in your 30's. I even know some retired people that are learning languages successfully.

To avoid sounding funny try listening to some light stuff in the language of choice such as pop music or movies (DVDs doubled in Spanish are a great choice)...

In my experience Spanish is actually is very easy so all the best!

That is nonsense. I have known many people who became fluent in a second or third language after the age of twenty, including myself. It took about two years but has continued to improve over the subsequent years.

Always its never too late, well as long as your not dead. ^_^

But one of my managers were i work came over to the states at about 50 years of age couldn't speak any English only Arabic, that was about 5 years ago and now you could never tell he couldn't speak English. So if someone in there fifty's can learn one of the hardest language's out there im sure you would have no problems.

Best of Luck.

with enough hard work, fluency in just about any language is possible, with the exception of a few, b/c your brain hasn't been accustomed to certain sounds. But as far as Spanish is concerned, absolutely.

Yes. My father learned English in Britain as an adult and knows it fluently. (Though he every now and then says the wrong thing or mispronounces something.)

Rosetta Stone sucks!

Here is another popular method that has greater results.

http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/

Actually, I don't see why not.

I think it's more the dedication and drive that determines how you achieve results, rather than age.

All the best.

ST