Who are some famous people who learnt languages later in life?

Our take

They say, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," but history is filled with remarkable individuals who defy this notion, especially when it comes to learning languages later in life. Take Wagner Moura, for instance; the Brazilian actor dove into Spanish to portray Pablo Escobar in Netflix's "Narcos," demonstrating that immersion can spark linguistic growth, even if perfection remains elusive. Albert Einstein, a genius in his own right, tackled English in his 40s, driven by necessity in the scientific community, yet he never achieved full fluency, often preferring his native German. Then there's Mary Donaldson, an Australian sales director whose life took a royal turn when she married Denmark's Prince Frederik. In her 30s, she embraced Danish, proving that new beginnings can inspire new skills, and today, her Danish is commendably fluent.

They say, "You can't teach an Old Dog New Tricks". This may not necessarily be true, but, by God, is it difficult !

And it seems that learning a new language may be the most difficult for an older person to learn - well, at least for me !

Who are some famous people who learnt languages later on life?

I know Wagner Moura was asked to play Pablo Escobar for the Netflix TV show, "Narcos". And as he's Brazillian, took lessons to learn Spanish. Currently, he's not perfect, but is conversational in Spanish.

Albert Einstein learnt the basics of English in his 40s when he had to colloborate with more English language scientists in the European circles he was in, in the 1920s. But he was never truly fluent. By the time he passed away, as an immigrant in America, he still wrote in German, but was still only conversational in English.

Mary Donaldson was an Australian sales director in 2000. Then her life changed when she met Frederick X of Denmark at a bar in Sydney. They married in 2004, however even before the wedding, she soon realized she would have to learn the Danish language in her 30s. And by all accounts, her Danish today ain't too bad.

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#language evolution#philosophy of language#humor in language#creative language use#language learning#famous people#Wagner Moura#Spanish#Albert Einstein#English#Danish#Pablo Escobar#conversational#immigrant#German#learning difficulties#adult learners#Mary Donaldson#collaboration#sales director