The benefits of each age to learn a new language Image Legend Research shows that each stage of life offers different benefits for language learning.

Spanish Nursery, a bilingual daycare center located north of London, is another busy fall morning. Parents help their children get off the bike, teachers greet them with a hug and enthusiasm Hello ! In the playground, a little girl asks to make a collection (maria-chiquinha, in Spanish), plays with a ball and shouts: Catch ! (19659007) "At this age, children do not learn a language – they acquire it," says Carmen Rampersad, director of the school. The statement seems to sum up the enviable naturalness of the small polyglots that surround them.

For many children, Spanish is the third or fourth language. Croatian, Hebrew, Korean and Dutch are among their mother tongues.

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By Using Them With Difficulty d & # 39; an adult in language clbad, it would be simple to conclude that it is best to start learning a new language during childhood.

But science offers a much more complex view of the evolution of our relationship with languages ​​throughout life – and can encourage those who begin to study later.

In general, each stage of life offers us advantages in language learning. Babies have a better ear for different sounds; children can badimilate native accents with surprising speed. While adults have an increased attention span and crucial skills, such as the degree of instruction, they allow for continued expansion of vocabulary.

A number of factors other than age – such as social status, teaching methods, and even feelings – can affect the number of languages ​​we speak and our ingenuity

" Everything is wrong with age, "says Antonella Sorace, professor of developmental linguistics and director of the Center for Bilingual Affairs at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 19659007] This is the case of what is called "explicit learning": a study process that takes place in a clbadroom with a teacher explaining the rules of the language . Some research has shown that young adults have some advantages over language learning in relation to children.

"Young children are very bad at explicit learning because they lack cognitive control, attention capacity and memory," says Sorace.

A study in Israel revealed, for example, that adults understood better an artificial language rule and applied it to new words.

Scientists compared three distinct groups: 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and young adults. Adults outperformed younger ones, while 12-year-olds also outperformed 8-year-olds.

The results of the research coincide with those of a long-term study of nearly 2,000 students. Bilingual English-Catalan-English: those who started learning later learned the new language faster than those who started earlier.

In Israel, researchers have suggested that older participants may have benefited from mature skills, more advanced problem-solving strategies, and increased language experience.

In other words, older students tend to know a lot about themselves and the world around them and can use that knowledge to process new information.

The youngest children excel in learning. implicitly: listen to native speakers and imitate them. But this type of learning requires a lot of conviviality with the natives.

In 2016, the bilingual business center of the University of Edinburgh prepared an internal report on Mandarin courses in primary schools for the Scottish Government. And he found that an hour a week of clbades did not make a significant difference to five-year-olds. But only half an hour with the presence of an indigenous teacher helped them understand elements of Mandarin that are more difficult for adults, such as tones.

Easy Assimilation

We are all born with a natural gift for languages. As babies, we can hear the 600 consonant sounds and the 200 vowels that make up the languages ​​of the world. During the first year of life, our brain begins to specialize, matching the sounds we hear most often.

Babies already babble in their mother tongue. Even newborns cry with an accent, mimicking what they heard while they were in the womb.

This specialization also means the elimination of skills that we do not need. Japanese babies can easily distinguish the sounds of "l" and "r".
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When a family moves to another country, children often learn the language faster – but this may be for a question of survival

There is no doubt, says Sorace of the University of Edinburgh, that the early years are crucial for the integration of our own language. Studies of abandoned or isolated children have shown that if we do not learn human language very early, we can not compensate for it later.

Here is the surprise: this reduction is not the same for the learning of foreign languages ​​[19659007] "The important thing is to understand that age varies over time with many other factors" says Danijela Trenkic, a psychologist at York University in England.

Learning Abroad

The lives of children are completely different from those of adults. Thus, when we compare their language skills, "we do not compare equivalent realities," says Trenkic.

She gives the example of a family moving to another country. Usually, children learn the language much faster than their parents. But this may be because they hear the language constantly at school, while parents sometimes work alone.

Children may also feel a greater sense of urgency because mastery of the language is essential to their social survival: to make friends, to be accepted, to be involved (e). Parents, on the other hand, are more likely to socialize with people who understand them, such as immigrant colleagues.

"In my opinion, creating the emotional bond makes you perfect for language learning," says Trenkic of York University.

Adults can also create this bond of affection, not just romantic relationships or friendship with an aboriginal person. A study conducted in 2013 with British adults enrolled in an Italian beginner course revealed that those who had difficulties with the language were helped by the relationship with other students and the teacher.

"If you meet people who think like you, it's the more likely you are to learn the language and persevere," says Trenkic. "Unless of a social motivation, it's really hard to follow."

Earlier this year, a Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) survey with 670,000 people showed that to gain native knowledge of English grammar, it is best to start about ten years. After that age, the capacity would decrease.

But the online questionnaire study also revealed that we could improve languages, including ours, over time.

For example, we have only perfect command of the grammar of our own language. 30 years. And an online study done previously shows that even natives almost every day learn a new word in their own language until the age of 50.

Trenkic notes that the MIT study has focused on something extremely specific – the ability to succeed a native in terms of grammatical accuracy.

"People sometimes ask me what is the biggest advantage of foreign languages." "I will earn more money?" "In fact, the main advantage of learning foreign languages ​​is that I can communicate with more people," she explains.

Trenkic, for example, comes from Serbia. She was fluent in English about 20 years after moving to the UK She says she still makes grammatical mistakes, especially when she is tired or stressed.

"Still, despite everything – and this is Is crucial – I can do incredible things in English. I can enjoy great literary works and write relevant and quality texts, "she wrote in an e-mail.

At the Spanish Daycare in London, where teachers sing Cumpleanos feliz (Happy birthday in Spanish) and a copy of it

In fact, the MIT's questionnaire filed in English. The Crane in Hebrew on a shelf, the director she – even learned the local language later.

Carmen Rampersad grew up in Romania and had a good command of English only when she moved abroad around the age of 20. children have learned Spanish at the nursery.

But her husband is perhaps the most adventurous linguist.A native of Trinidad and Tobago, who speaks Spanish, he learned Romanian with his family , who lives near the border with Moldova.

"His Romanian is excellent", she says. This article is from the BBC 19659007] Have you ever watched our new videos on YouTube ? Join our channel!