Part 3 | Learning to drive, lifelong learning, and sleep patterns

We've been talking about learning, and I would like to ask you a few more questions about this topic. Did you like learning to drive?

At first I found driving overwhelming, but once I got the hang of it, the freedom it gave me was exhilarating.

Was learning to drive easy or challenging for you?

I think that any time you begin to learn something new it can be overwhelming. In my case, I felt like I needed to coordinate many different things at once and be aware of many different things – for example, my — what my feet were doing, my eyes, ears, the windows, the mirrors – you feel like a one-man band at first, but practice makes perfect, so soon enough I was driving like a pro.

Do you think adults should keep learning?

I think everyone should keep learning. Learning new things keeps the mind active and this is the key to maintaining a good mental state as we get older. And since I referred to my mother earlier, I should mention that she is currently learning a new language over the internet, precisely for this reason.

What do you think adults should learn after they finish their school studies?

Well, typically, I think most adults up to a certain age will choose to learn a skill that will help them get ahead in their career, so perhaps a computer course or sometimes a new language is useful too. As people get older though, I think it is important to learn and develop hobbies, especially those they didn't have an opportunity to enjoy when they were
younger when they had too many obligations.

Do you think seniors possess better knowledge than younger generations?

That's a very interesting question. I think seniors probably possess deeper knowledge but of fewer subjects. In contrast, I think thanks to the internet, younger people have access to endless information which allows them to know many things in many different areas.

Do you think seniors need less sleep compared to younger people?

I have been told that sleep becomes more difficult as you age and seniors typically sleep less but they actually require quite a bit. I think children and adolescents require a lot of sleep, but adults, whether out of necessity or for some other reason, sleep considerably less than the aforementioned age groups.

Why do you think this is?

Well, adults have many obligations. I think most of us would admit that 24 hours are not enough, so sleep typically becomes less of a priority. This of course has many negative repercussions but I think for most adults it is unfortunately the reality.

Thank you. That is the end of the speaking test.