How do humans, as babies, learn a language?
In: Biology
The same way that anybody learns any language.
As a baby or small child, you’re surrounded by people who can speak a certain language (aka parents). They make these sounds over and over and eventually your brain connects the sounds to specific meanings. Then there’s grammar, which honestly some people still struggle with in their lingua franca. Language is also constantly evolving through slang and things like that so sometimes it’s hard to keep up even as a adult.
Inversely, think about learning a second language as an adult. I’ve been casually learning Japanese for about 4 years. Sometimes I get frustrated with my lack of progress but when I put it into perspective I remember that it probably took me 2-4 years when I was a baby to be able to formulate actual coherent thoughts in English. And even today as a 32 year old I’m often learning new words in English that I might not have known before. Plus all of that new-fangled gen z slang that I’m expected to keep up with.
In summary, it’s all about constant stimulation and repetition. Sooner than later your brain adapts to associating certain sounds with meanings and then boom, you have a means of communication.
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