Are Kids Really Better at Language Learning Than Adults?

It is simply not conceivable that 22%–70% of our population has a reading disability. What is clear is that students who do not thrive in first, second, and third grade continue to struggle through adulthood.

The problem with living in a country where you don’t speak the language is that you start to sound like a child when you’re speaking, and so people begin to treat you like a child. Then, to complete the circle, you begin to act like one.

2005. The study provides an interesting way of teasing apart the effects of age and peer groups, suggesting that people are more open to new vocabulary during the first third of their lifespan, regardless of whether that’s an eighty-year lifespan in an offline community or a three-year “lifespan” in an online one.

Most basically, speaking some language within the first ten years or so of life is a prerequisite for being able to learn a language

1 The process of acquiring language is deeply affected by the process of becoming a competent member of society. 2 The process of becoming a competent member of society is realized to a large extent through language.

although a learner may be able to locate, and sometimes learn from, the most successful or skilled person in his community (say, the best hunter in a foraging band), many young learners will be too inexperienced or ill-equipped to take advantage of the nuances and fine points that distinguish the top hunters. Instead, by focusing on older children,