Precerpt from My 20th Language: Aging - Assumptions, Myth, and Reality

Aging is not a footnote in my linguistic life—it’s the headline. In my seventh decade, I’ve noticed the shifts: slower retrieval, occasional delays, the need to kick out inappropriate words from other languages before the right one surfaces. But I’ve also noticed something else: the scaffolding holds . The foundation of more than a dozen languages, decades of professional memory work, and a lifetime of linguistic adaptation still supports new acquisition—even when the brain is 73 years old. đź§ Memory Challenges and Multilingual Compensation Yes, recall is harder now. I feel the delay when I’m not in the right cultural context. I sometimes reach for a word and find three others from unrelated languages elbowing their way forward. But I also know how to filter, sort, and retrieve , because I’ve done it for decades. My memory banks are full—not just with vocabulary, but with patterns, structures, and strategies . That’s what makes new learning possible. 🌍 The Indonesian Challenge Lat...