This is maybe offtopic to the thread, but I think the impression of language proficiency depends a lot on accent, and adults learning a foreign language don’t spend nearly enough time on accent. A few weeks of watching youtube videos in the target language, trying to imitate the sounds exactly right, is a small effort which will yield amazing results at any age. But for some reason adults don’t do it.
This is maybe offtopic to the thread, but I think the impression of language proficiency depends a lot on accent, and adults learning a foreign language don’t spend nearly enough time on accent. A few weeks of watching youtube videos in the target language, trying to imitate the sounds exactly right, is a small effort which will yield amazing results at any age. But for some reason adults don’t do it.
Because it feels low-status. Imitating sounds is what small children do.