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Kids vs Adults learning a foreign language

I’m not one who believes that people are limited. I don’t think that we have supernatural powers but at the same time feel that what holds many back are our own minds. Fear, Doubt, Apprehension, Suspicion, Laziness and Preconceived notions about how something is. I think that language learning is the same way.

I often get asked by adult students if it is too late for them to learn a foreign language. My response is always that anyone can learn a foreign language. You may learn faster or slower than the next but if you work hard you will learn the language.

Adults are no different than kids in our ability to learn except that we have this intellectual or emotional baggage that tells that we can’t do something or that it is too difficult and not worth trying. Kids just do it because it is part of their life.

I’ve been thought about this for a long time and these are just some of my personal rantings about Kids vs Adults in language learning. Here’s the blog post that reignited this subject for me.

I’m not sure that it is an easier for younger children to learn a foreign language but it does seem that the end result is a more fluid and natural speaker of the 2nd language. Adults can achieve the same results but it takes time and hard work. Work that kids just saw as part of life and occured “naturally” for them in their daily activities.

I think that part of the reason that we think that kids learn easier is because they don’t remember how hard it was because it was just part of life. Do you ever think about 2nd grade and say history, math or English class was hard? Probably not.

As adults we build up language learning too much in our minds as something hard or think it will be easy and then get discouraged when we don’t speak fluently in 30 days.

It takes kids 7-8 years before they speak their native language extremely well. Even then they will be learning it for another 8-10 years depending on their education. Adults learning a foreign language think it is hard because they are more conscious of the effort they are exerting in order to gain this new skill and knowledge. Additionally, adults have become accustomed to learning new thing quickly with their increase intelligence and experience.

Language has a humbling effect and probably takes the same amount of time to learn as an adult as it does as a child. So do I think that it is easier for kids to learn a foreign language than adults. NO! Adults are just more aware of all of the hard work it takes to learn a language.