Exposure of multiple languages to children at a young age can help them learn languages faster and more fluently than if exposed as adults. Is it because children’s brains are more receptive to language at a young age? Is it because your mind has already developed a ‘default’ language when you’re older?
Why isn’t this pattern applicable to something like mathematics/any other subject?
In: Biology
Please know that there are a lot of conflicting theories, and that knowledge acquisition in general isn’t fully well understood.
Some of the explanations are:
– It isn’t easier for children at all. Children take a couple years before being able to speak at all, and around 5 to be able to speak consistently. Bilingual children often take longer, and learning a new language takes them time anyway.
– They might learn quicker because they have more time for it. They don’t have to worry about work and chores, so they’re just full time learning.
– Children’s minds may be more “plastic”. Parts of the brain aren’t fully formed yet, and so they’re able to learn things more quickly.
– Adults may “give up” on learning, and so learning a new language is more difficult, just because they’re more set in their ways. They *could* learn quicker, but they’re often not in the right mindset.
Basically, this might not be a real phenomenon, and there’s even evidence that depending on how you measure speed of learning, adults actually learn significantly faster than children. Either way, there are many explanations, and it’s complicated to actually understand and quantify.
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