Eli5: why is it easier to learn new languages as a kid than as an adult?

Question

There are kids under 10 who can fluently speak/understand more than two languages. Mind blowing to me.

In: 9

Answer 1

There are a lot of factors at play here, but two of the biggest are these:

1) Children, being children, are already approaching all language as something they still need to acquire and develop. Adults who grew up monolingual have had more time to approach language acquisition as something they did once when they were little but now no longer have to do. In other words, children are already used to language acquisition while monolingual adults are used to thinking that being an adult means no longer learning a language.

2) Generally speaking, it’s far more socially acceptable for children to learn languages than adults. Adults are expected to be proficient and competent in everyday settings, and people are less forgiving of adults struggling with a new language than they are of children, who are typically encouraged.