Lifelong learning for everyone

Don't let an urban myth stop you learning

'It's harder to learn new things as you get older, 

your memory isn't as good'  

Utter nonsense!  This is one of those urban myths that we've heard so many times that we now actually believe it.  

You can learn at any age.  It's nothing to do with our memory and not being able to learn things as fast.  What it comes down to is ... having the time.  Remember as a child when you'd do things over and over and over again to learn something new.  That snazzy little dance routine that you and your friends put together, the one where you practised almost every hour of every day for the whole summer holiday.  You didn't have to go to work, or do the bills, or look after the family, or do the shopping etc.  You had all the time in the world to learn something new.

We simply don't have the luxury of time as an adult, there's always something else that needs doing.  So, is it any wonder that we don't learn new things as fast?!!  Don't beat yourself up, you're not too old, you're not stupid, you just don't have enough time to commit to that thing you're trying to learn.

I've been learning French for many years and will continue to do so because I haven't got the time to immerse myself completely into learning the language fluently and, unfortunately, don't have the time or money to visit France every weekend to practise.  I have an hour's lesson every fortnight and in-between I listen to French podcasts on my way to work, watch French YouTube videos whilst soaking in the bath and read French magazines when I get 10 minutes.  In other words, it's blooming hard work to learn new things as an adult.  But, it's so worth making the effort, because here's what learning can do for you:

• Boost your confidence
• Improve your self-esteem
• Make you more adaptable to change
• Challenge your ideas and beliefs
• IT'S FUN!

How to make learning work for you:

1. Take control of your learning; don't let it take control of you - do it because you want to do it and not because you have to do it.
2. Challenge yourself - set goals and milestones along the way, even if you're not working towards a qualification.
3. Be organised - managing everyday life and learning is hard so you have to be organised in both areas.  Make it easy on yourself by prepping things in advance as much as possible.  
4. Make the time to learn - I used to get frustrated that I wasn't learning French quick enough.  Was I putting in the time and effort needed ... yes.  Really?  Erm ... no.  I now put aside dedicated time for learning.
5. Find out what works for you - do you prefer to listen, watch, read, do?  Try doing something different to what you would normally do.
6. Make it FUN - you won't learn anything if you find it boring so think of novel ways to keep yourself entertained.  One of my favourite singers happens to be a French singer called Zaz.  She's quirky, she's different and very entertaining.  I go online to find the words to her songs and then watch her videos on YouTube and sing along (badly, in terms of both singing and French!).  I then translate them into English.  It's a fun way to learn.

Go on, challenge yourself to learning something new over the next few days, weeks, months, years and see where it takes you.  Don't ever stop learning.

#2020