Is it true that for some adults, it is impossible for them to learn a new language similar to how many adults become lactose intolerant?
>>16778577
I don't know what science says and, in this specific case, I don't really care.
Learning is possible at all ages. I would argue that the process of learning is more important than the knowledge because it "works out" your brain. I think there is evidence to show that it might be more difficult to learn new languages, but as a language major I don't believe for a second that the learning mechanisms of our brain just "go away" lol without the brain itself having some sort of decay or issue like Alzheimer's.
>>16778577
Not impossible, but likely to be difficult. For various reasons, the ideal time to learn a second or third language is pre-teen. So of course most school systems don't begin to teach languages until teenagers have begun to lose the ability.
>>16778577
Learning a new language is similar to remembering something. If you don't, it's because you're not interested in it, you don't want to remember it or to make the effort, you'reso old it would take longer or too long to acquire a moderate proeficiency, you have some serious memory issues or another medical problem, or a combination of those.
On another note, "lactose intolerance" is a natural occurrence in mammals, happening around the weaning stage when it becomes more beneficial for the mother to stop giving milk to her kid. The kid's means to digest the milk now useless (lactase), they disappear and he becomes unable to digest it.
Humans who can still digest dairy products are "lactose persistent", and are actually a minority.
"Real lactose intolerance" is caused by a problem of the intestine or by the disappearance of the means to digest dairy products and is rare.
It means most adult managed to keep digesting dairy product for a little longer than they should have, and even fewer keep on being able to digest it their whole life, not the other way around.
Unlike learning something (a new language), you can not remember to be able to digest milk, even if you're interested in it or make the effort. You can treat some medical causes though, or can use live yogurt cultures with lactobacilli that will digest the milk for you (or medicine to improve or help your memory, for languages).
