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
Yes. The brain of children is different than the brain of an adult. It’s a lot more adaptive, ready to make novel connections (physically, neurons make connections with each other). On top of that, babies’ brains are preprogrammed (by evolution) to learn certain things by certain ages. If a child doesn’t learn ANY language by a certain age, they never will. This has happened with so-called “feral child” cases. Usually the result of a kid somehow growing up isolated in the wild.
I forget the specific age. I do know that one of the main differences between kids and adults is that the brain prunes (removes) a ton of excess neural connections between the ages of 2 and 10. That’s part of why there are critical time periods a child needs to learn specific things. As long as a kid learns any language, they will be able to learn new ones later. However, learning new languages later in life ends up using different networks in the brain than when we learn them young. Which is another reason it’s harder or slower later in life (but not impossible).
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