va wrote:
For the most part, I have noticed that while the men never pick up the new language, unless they learn it as kids, they possess the ability to understand the context, despite lacking the ability to reply fluently, Ofcourse, time, exposure and environment matters just as much as linguistic agility. My German has turned rusty with lack of use :-/
Interesting. I've noticed that my western friends who have lived in Japan for a decade and gained totally fluency actually lose a great deal of capability with just a few years living outside Japan. I guess you can never leave. :) I'm here for only 2 years now and will be here for about a decade or so. We'll see. I may actually do two year-long moves to both China and India within that decade, though.
Jim -- http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/
