At what age do you think it is too old to start learning a new language? Well, Samuel Malheiros from Vitoria, Brazil doesn’t think that there is any limit at all!
Malheiros is an 80 year-old lawyer who decided to fly all the way from Brazil to the UK to study English at the Kaplan English course in Oxford.
As president of Vitoria’s Alliance Francaise, he already speaks a number of languages including French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. However, one day he realized that it was time for him to speak the most widely understood language in the world, English.
He says, “I always had an interest in analytical philosophy, which is very appreciated in Anglo-Saxon countries and I wanted to have the ability to be part of that as well.”
What did his family think about this decision? Well, they were quite surprised but very supportive of his desire to go abroad to learn English, even at the age of 80.
He had studied English before here and there but never had the chance to take it seriously where he had the opportunity to practice speaking continuously.
He added, “During my studying and while participating in the school’s social activities, I’ve made friends at Kaplan from all over the world. Being in the same school with students of different nationalities means we have to speak English with each other all the time. It’s challenging and I enjoy it.”
In fact, Malheiros is so serious about his English goal this time that he has extended his time at Kaplan Oxford school for a few more weeks.
“My journey will not end here. When I finish studying I plan to continue traveling around the world and keep on speaking and learning English,” he said.
