The brain as an oven

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I was reminded today of a thread that Steve once started over on the rather uncompromising How-To-Learn-Any-Language forum called “The brain as an oven”:

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8181&PN=27&TPN=2

Of particular interest to me is point #2. I have done essentially nothing at all with my two longest-studied languages, German and French. In fact I took about 18 months off languages focusing on something entirely different. And yet as I come back to them now, after all this time, not only have I lost none of it, I understand the language and can express myself better than ever. This is a very peculiar phenomenon and I wonder how common it is. This is also ties in with the notion of “interleaving” and engaging in activities that promote long-term memory.

Are there many others here that have had a similar experience?

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@Chris: There is no need to shorten links any longer. Since about 2 years LingQ is able to deal with longer links. Personally I prefer to see where a link leeds to.

Even after 30 years I was able to remember a lot of the French that I’ve learned in school. I see no advantage in adapting a new language very quickly. The brain needs time. That is my experience too.

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Sorry, I’ve changed that now. I really have been away a while.