After graduating from university, Vicky realized she was not able to speak English fluently, although she had memorized a lot of vocabulary and grammar rules in school for years. She wanted to improve but also felt self-conscious about being too old to relearn.

In the first place, she thought only children and teenagers could learn languages well. She even felt embarrassed to look for language partners, because she was "too old." Her irrational beliefs almost made her give up.

Luckily, she took an English teacher's advice, which was she should listen to English daily. Meanwhile, she read many articles about learning languages to find other useful methods and to develop a realistic mindset. She learned that studies show human brains still can grow with age if people take care of their brains with solid sleep, a healthy diet, exercise, and learning new things, like learning languages. After a process of trial and error for years, she finally achieved her goal.

When Vicky looked back on her learning journey, she concluded that her negative thinking had been the biggest obstacle preventing her from succeeding. In fact, we are never too old to learn.