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Latest post Sat, Nov 22 2008 10:37 AM by toti. 7 replies.
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Yuksel  +  564070 Tue, 09 Sep 08 10:44 AM

Are women better than men at learning languages?



What’s the key to success in learning a foreign language? Surely it’s a genuine desire to communicate with other people. I can’t think of another valid reason. That’s why in general women are better than men at learning languages. If you’re a man and you want to learn a language, I’m going to tell you why you will find it more difficult than a woman and what you can do about it.I’m probably going to be accused of stereotyping men and women here, but time and time again studies have shown that generally, (there are always exceptions) men score higher in maths tests and women score higher in language tests. I’m not a scientist, and I don’t want to bore you with scientific detail, but my experiences as a teacher pretty much confirm the scientists’ view.When I’m teaching a conversation class, it’s instantly obvious who are going to make the fastest progress because these are the ones who quickly get involved by asking questions. And more often than not, it’s the female members of the group that ask the most questions.Women are simply more interested in human beings than men. They genuinely mean it when they ask “how are you?” Being wives and mothers may have something to do with it, I mean, they are conditioned by society to be the ones that care. Men, on the other hand, are less interested in people and more interested in things, notably, cars, computers, gadgets, etc.If you are man reading this article, you have to get out of your macho cave and learn to be more interested in people. And swallow your pride when it comes to making mistakes. Women have fewer complexes about committing errors, because the important thing for them is building relationships. We all learn by making mistakes, it’s a natural part of the process. Learning a language is not a competition – men sometimes see their limitations as a “defeat” so they prefer not to speak at all. Giving up the idea that your are in a competition to see who's the the best would be a good start for a lot of men.

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bruno_ts  +  565092 Thu, 11 Sep 08 10:24 PM
Women are better in things that need more brain, it's true, as men are better in jobs that need some muscle.
It's fact.
But each one is each one, and if you really want to learn something, you can learn faster than the other people. (As me xD)
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PrinnySquad  +  565116 Fri, 12 Sep 08 02:07 AM
You sounds like a person who speaks from experience. Let me guess, you are probably a male teacher, and thank for the advice at the end of the post. It's good sometimes just to hear it again and again just so it will be ingrained in my head.
I agree that a genuine desire to communicate clearly and effectively is the best incentive to study well in any language. Especially in English, a language that has almost every word for everything. I also want to add that as a student myself, I didn't see that many more, if not equal, female students asking question than male ones. However, I still agree that women generally are better language learners, even in their mother-tongue.
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Anonymous, 1 yr 56 days ago
I think your observations are a little if not wildly misplaced. I'm a professional interpreter/translator and..a man! In my experience at university and working aborad, at the level of higher education, it is the women who are more afraid of making mistakes. I got far more out of my time living in France, Germany and Poland precisely because I know that making mistakes is part of learning, particularly orally. Many of the female students who spent time abroad didn't get as much out of it as they were not prepared to make a mistake. It's true that the vast majority of the students at this level were women but the real top performers in the class were the male minority.
Gostiya  +  566330 Mon, 15 Sep 08 05:22 PM

 …Quite a disputable question. There can’t be a single meaning..
  And in fact it’s children who are more efficient in learning languages. And again scientists have a concrete explanation on the fact. It’s not a secret that it has to do with various areas in the brain that are in charge of different functions. Thus different actions (like driving a car, for ex.) are done ‘cause of people’s automatic brain functions. And actually children use this automatic area of the brain in learning new languages. And if compared to adults (no matter whether it’s a man or a woman) they use a different area of their brain (that obviously is not so productive).

   Thus if you’re under 18 it’s much easier for you to catch up and learn a new language as the opportunity to inculcate skills and information into the deep motor region of the brain is more open. And with each year that passes, the window to the brain closes slowly each time.  And that, for its turn, means adults are less open to diversity when compared to children (who by their nature, have more inquisitive mind and a great desire for trying everything), but more scared to make mistakes and ask questions..

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Gaucho_Bagual  +  580131 Sat, 25 Oct 08 04:30 PM
 I'd like to read any report that states women are more able to learn languages than men.......in my opinion, it depends on anyone's will to learn more and more....
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szandy  +  588396 Mon, 17 Nov 08 09:07 AM
I can't agree it more. Women is more likely to express something in daily life than man. The subjects they concern consist of gossips of others, her own mood, love, children, etc. Men tend to drown in some hobbys or interests. They are not so sensitive as women generally. Language, as a tool of communication, its learning is largely depended on the conversations with others. If everyone just need to communicate with your own mind, language even has not reasons for being. In my country, "enjoy losing face" once was regarded as a good attitude in learning English. So "learning is not a competition" is good statement I learned from this post.
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toti  +  590639 Sat, 22 Nov 08 10:37 AM
hi

In my opinion, it is a general assumption  to say that women are better than men at learning language.I think that it depends if the person has the ability to learn very quickly any language. There is not any connecation  if it is men or women.
I would like to say that my english is not very well as awoman  and I know a lot of men who speak fluently.
I understand that your experience as a teacher causes you to get to this conclusion.
 I  agree with you that women have more a genuine desire to communicate with other people but it  is not a good reason in my opninon to decide that women are better than men at learning language.


i will be glad if you can correct me in my writing.

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