Learning Language as a Child: The Formative Years
Children didn’t learn their first language by logging into Paypal and paying for an online course. Nor did they borrow books from the language learning section of the library.
Nope, the very first language acquisition technique was not reading. Not even imitation.
It was listening.
We are often impressed by the linguistic sophistication displayed by children. We marvel at how they are like sponges, observing and absorbing everything they hear.
A one-year old is really no newbie when it comes to listening. He’s a veteran because he’s been doing that for over a year! In fact, even inside the womb, before birth, the listening started.
And when they are born, they prefer the familiar voice of their mother over any soothing female voice in the room. They also prefer the language that their parents speak. And as early as 4 months, it’s been shown that they are able to distinguish between French and English.
In one study, 16 pregnant mothers were asked to read The Cat in the Hat to their unborn child twice a day for the final 7 weeks of pregnancy. (It was estimated that the infants were exposed to the story for approximately 5 hours.) After birth, the infants were found to display clear preference for The Cat in the Hat over another children’s classic: The King, the Mice, and the Cheese—a story-poem with a different meter and beat.
Now what does that tell you about the simple effectiveness of consistent exposure when learning a language? Because really, each language is just a collection of different tones, sounds, timbres, and rhythms.
Incidentally, in today’s vaunted language programs, how many absolutely stress the importance of listening?
What Brain Studies Say About You and Me
But if you’re thinking language is just about lips and tongue vibrating to make distinctive sounds, you are quite off the mark. Go higher than the mouth a few inches, and you hit the motherload.
Language is a brain thing.
We are born with a language instinct. Our brains are naturally wired for language. They have the innate ability to process complex information in the form of sounds, gestures and context.
This capacity for language extends throughout life. Which means, you can learn any language, at any age. This is possible because the brain is plastic. And no, I don’t mean plastic like those toys from China.
Plasticity is the brain’s ability to make new neural connections. Continued research has found that this happens all throughout a person’s lifetime. Your brain today is not the same one as it was last month.
Neural connections are created regardless of age. You’ve heard about Grandma Moses, right? She started painting in her seventies. Why? Because she felt there was nothing else to do! And from there, her own paintings showed her how much she still had to offer, even into old age.
So yes, it is possible to be a polyglot. We have enough processing power in our brains for it.
And if I were you, I’d really make a point of learning a new language ASAP. Not just because it can lead to employment and earning opportunities, but because of its implications on aging. Studies have found that just by learning a second language, you can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. Bilinguals are diagnosed 4 years later than monolinguals.
If learning just one extra language can do such good, can you imagine the host of other benefits a multilingual can have? (That is, in addition to doubling or tripling one’s romantic possibilities.)