So here's a puzzle: I've mentioned that I haven't practiced Spanish in quite a while. And yet, I sometimes look at news in Spanish and can understand basically everything without any difficulty. I'm wondering, why. I mean, of course language knowledge doesn't disappear immediately once you stop using it, and I guess I started studying Spanish a little bit before French (whose turns of phrase more often than not end up being a complete mystery and a topic of an hour's reseach for me)... Although I guess my listening skills in Spanish are on par with French, especially in more obscure dialects... So I started learning Spanish before I was 25, which is often invoked as a magic number. But also with Spanish is when I was the most focused in my use of flash cards...

I guess it's not so much a mystery after all. Still, what I'd really like to know is what the deciding factor was. Because if it's age... That would really suck. And would mean that I could never master any other language at the same level as English... Which is kind of, well, I'm turning 30 in a couple of months, might as well retire (which isn't an option, but) since my brain is useless.