Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

Question

Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

In: 5857

Answer 1

Born in U.S. raised by German immigrants. Spoke, understood and read German easily. At some point my parents decided they wanted me to speak exclusively English to them to improve their language skills. Stopped speaking German around 10. I have been grasping for that languages ever since. I grew up in a Spanish speaking community in LA. I became an fair Spanish speaker. All the times I have been to Germany I end up speaking sentences 50% German and 50% Spanish. It’s mortifying.