Serene Karplus, Nederland.  My father left his homeland at age 13. He and his little sister waved good-bye to their parents from the train window as it pulled out of the Berlin station. They were, along with 10,000 other children in nine months, escaping the Nazis in central Europe just before World War II broke out. England was the only country that opened its arms to these refugees, so all were headed for London, thanks to the massive efforts of volunteers who organized, transported, fed, and housed them all.

The two siblings were luckier than others. Most never saw their parents or families again. Some were treated well, others poorly. Most could not speak the language of their new host families in England. Dad and his sister had learned English, both in their specialized school and from British nannies hired for their care while their parents were busy running their physician and radiology business.

As they finished their schooling in England, the two persevered and obtained college degrees at British universities, continuing on to work in their chosen fields there. Both always carried a German accent, but otherwise rejected their heritage, wanting to assimilate in their new home country as well as possible. Dad married and moved to America for better job prospects as a research physicist. When his children were encouraged to study four years of German language in high school, Dad chose not to speak, write, or think in German, and did not engage with that aspect of our education.

Fast forward fifty years. The Berlin government reached out to those who had been forced to leave due to the war and invited them to visit as guests. In the early 1990s, he brought his wife to his home city and a reunion of his extraordinary elementary school. Contemporaries began talking about their experience of the Kindertransport trains and assimilation decades before. It felt more safe to admit a connection to Germany. When asked, he began to talk about the experience publicly, but he still left his native language behind. Having immersed himself in English-speaking schools, jobs, and communities for so many decades, Dad had mostly lost command of his German language, a phenomenon called native language attrition.

Fast forward another 25 years. At age 91, Dad met a caregiver at his independent senior residence apartment building. As she cared for another German-speaking resident, they got to know one another and began conversing “auf Deutsch”. They became firm friends and soon the family scheduled her to visit twice a week.

Dad’s mind grew sharper. All of us noticed his increased ability to fully engage in conversations in English, too. The exercise of drawing out his native language reawakened many connections in his brain. We are thrilled to enjoy his increased cognition.

For many of us, our long term memory may be refreshed and our short term memory may become less reliable as we age. According to Monika Schmid, a linguistics professor at the University of Essex, “emigration usually requires speakers to become bilingual, and eventually they may even become dominant in their second language. This can lead to a gradual loss of proficiency in the first language, a phenomenon referred to as first language attrition. As migrants become elderly, however, they sometimes report a ‘reversion’ in language dominance, whereby the second language, which they have used in their daily lives for years or decades, recedes and the first language becomes stronger again.”

For those who have not learned the older adult’s native language, communication can grow increasingly difficult as the elder reverts more towards their native tongue. As we hear Dad shout out in German in his sleep, we are concerned about his future ability to communicate well with non-German speaking friends and caregivers. For others already experiencing this, the frustration may be alleviated by finding dual-language translators and caregivers. In all interactions with elders, especially those who have immigrated, patience with language loss serves everyone well.

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All ages of adults are welcome at all events, attended mostly by folks over age 50. Sign up for all meals and events at 303-258-0799 or Meetup.com/Mountain-MidLife-Social-Group or by email at NederlandAreaSeniors@gmail.com. Meals are served at the Nederland Community Center. Please call two days ahead for lunch reservations (more for dinners and breakfasts if possible). Missed the deadline? Call anyway. Costs listed show first the over-age-60 requested anonymous contribution, then the under-age-60 price. Please note that all over age 60 are welcome at meals regardless of ability to contribute financially.