You've probably heard that an old dog can't learn new tricks—and that's mostly true.

你們應該都聽過老狗變不出新把戲，這說法是真的。

While senior doggos can be better than puppies at solving some small puzzles—it seems like there's some barrier stopping them from being able to pick up totally new behaviors.

雖然年長的狗在解決小難題方面比小狗來得好，但對於牠們來說，學習新的東西會有些障礙。

And the same is true for an old human—or an "adult" as I'm sometimes called.

而這也可以印證在老年人，或像我這樣的「成年人」身上。

While we're better than little kids at learning to do specific tasks, we're often worse at mastering new complex skills—including languages.

儘管我們在學習特定工作技能比小孩容易上手，但在學習新的複雜技能，如語言，卻比小孩差。

In fact, compared to people who start learning a second language before age 10, people who start after they hit double digits are way less likely to ever attain a native-like fluency.

事實上，與 10 歲前開始學習第二語言的人相比，10 歲後才開始學習的人會較難以達到母語等級。

You might think that's because there's something about young brains—as opposed to old brains - that makes them more amenable to learning complicated new things.

你們可能認為這和年輕的大腦有關，相對於有年紀的大腦，他們較容易學習新鮮複雜的事物。

But the real culprits may be not one but two sociological barriers that come with adulting.

不過真正的罪魁禍首可能不是一個，而是兩個伴隨成年而來的社會障礙。

The first is that adults usually don't invest as much in learning a new language as kids do.

首先，成年人不像小孩會花很多時間學習新語言。

When a family immigrates to a country with a new language, the kids will almost certainly need to use that language to learn stuff at school, to make friends, and to keep up with pop culture.

當一個家庭移民到說全新語言的新國家，小孩必需學習該語言才能在學校學習、交朋友和跟上當地流行文化的腳步。

The parents, though, won't necessarily have to use the new language at their jobs, they'll often already have friends who speak their native language, and, well, adults usually care more about the old pop culture of their youth.

而家長在工作上並不一定需要使用新語言，他們通常也會結交會擁有相同母語的朋友。再者，大人較關心他們年代的流行文化。

And importantly when an adult wants to take a break from using a new language, they usually can.

更重要的是，如果他們想要暫時不使用新語言，隨時可以。

But kids often have to keep trying even when they don't want to, which means they do it more, which actually helps them gain fluency quicker.

但小孩即使不情願仍得不斷地嘗試，也就是說他們有更多說話的機會，這有助他們在短時間提升流利度。

The other barrier that adults have to overcome is that while adults are good at following directions, which can often help us beat kids at specific tasks like applying a new verb tense, we tend to see a new language as a huge set of rules to be followed.

第二個成年人得跨越的障礙是，雖然成年人擅於遵循指令，而使得他們對特定任務，如套用新的動詞時態，比小孩有優勢。但是我們會把新的語言設想成一大堆要遵循的規則。

And we're so worried that we'll "do mistakes" and "talks wrongly" that we end up not using the new language very much while kids who are way less risk averse in general use it a lot more.

而我們太擔心會「犯錯」或是「說錯」而減少新語言的使用，但不害怕犯錯的小孩就會經常使用。

And it turns out that the risky approach—simply letting loose and trying to communicate as often as possible in as many situations as possible, mistakes and all—seems to be the very best way to learn a new language.

結果顯示冒險的學習方法是學習語言的最佳方法，那就是放鬆心情、多爭取說話的機會，包括犯錯。

There are a few other reasons why an adult might have trouble learning a new language, but if they find reasons to be invested in the new language, use effective strategies, and forgo worrying about mistakes, they can knock down these two big barriers and become bilingual.

還有其他可以解釋成年人學習新語言時感到困難的原因，但只要他們找到讓自己花時間學習新語言的理由、對症下藥以及不要再擔心犯錯，他們絕對可以擊倒這兩大阻礙並成為雙語人士。

In fact, using these strategies, some adults have learned to fluently speak several extra languages.

實際上，透過這些方法，有些成年人學會流利地說多種外語。

One of those hyperlinguists, Kató Lomb, started learning new languages after age 10 and kept learning more and more throughout her life - including a final language when she was well into her 80s.

其中有一位超級語言學家 Kató Lomb，10 歲後才開始學習新的語言並持續地學習不同語言，直到她 80 多歲學習了最後一種外語。

How's that for breaking down barriers?

這個例子可以說是跨越障礙的典範吧？

This video was sponsored by the University of Minnesota, where students, faculty and staff across all fields of study are working to solve the grand challenges facing society.

這部影片由美國明尼蘇達大學贊助，校內學生、系所以及教職員均致力於解決社會所面對的重大挑戰。

One of these challenges is enhancing individual and community capacity for a changing world, which includes figuring out how we can all communicate better with one another.

其中一個挑戰是提升個人以及社區能力以改變世界，包括世界間如何能有更好的溝通。

Dr. Kate Paesani and her team at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition are studying multilingualism and multiculturalism to improve foreign language teaching and learning, and Professor Martha Bigelow of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction studies multilingual educational policy, with a focus on immigrant and refugee youth.

Kate Paesani 博士和她語言習得高級研究中心的團隊正研究多種語言和多元文化以改善外語教學與學習；而課程與教學學系的教授 Martha Bigelow 則研究針對年輕的移民和難民的多語教學政策。

Thanks, University of Minnesota!

謝謝明尼蘇達大學！