Older Adults Learning English in Berlin

About this episode

This episode discusses the attitudes of older adults in Berlin towards English language education in a multilingual urban setting.

In this episode of the Language on the Move podcast Dr Hanna Torsh talks to Katharina Gensch (University of Hamburg) about her new paper "English language education for older adults in a multilingual urban environment," which has just been published in Educational Gerontology. Gensch, K. (2025). English language education for older adults in a multilingual urban environment. Educational Gerontology, 1-14. Paper here Abstract. This paper explores how older adults in the German capital of Berlin react to the perceived increase of English as a commonly used language in their urban environment. Drawing from an interview study with participants of English classes for older adults, the article identifies different attitudes expressed in reaction to linguistic changes in their environment. These attitudes include embracing the concept of an international city and linguistic diversity, framing anglicization as an integral – yet not necessarily well-liked – part of certain neighborhoods, and rejecting it as a discriminatory, ageist practice. Furthermore, the interviewees were found to employ English learning and use as a versatile strategy to participate more fully in their environment’s…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Hanna Torsh

Guest: Katharina Gensch

Topics covered

• older adults
• English language education
• multilingual environments
• linguistic diversity
• urban studies

Keywords

• older adults
• English classes
• Berlin
• linguistic attitudes
• multilingualism
• language education

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Hamburg, Educational Gerontology

Books & works: English language education for older adults in a multilingual urban environment

Places: Berlin, Germany

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