What is the perfect age for a child to begin language learning, and why?

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   Lisa Wiltonposted 12 years ago

   What is the perfect age for a child to begin language learning, and why?

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   UndercoverAgent19posted 12 years ago

   As early as possible! Language learning is extraordinary easy for small children, as most of their synaptic connections have not been pruned away yet, and their language centers are still fully active in their brains. Language learning skills decline and plateau at puberty for most people.

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   1. 86

      Lisa Wiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Do you think they need time to develop skills in their native language first or that they should start from babyhood?

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      UndercoverAgent19posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Babyhood. A lot of linguistic research indicates that children are able to distinguish their languages fairly easily, without getting them mixed up. And, as a baby, an individual can hear all sorts of phonemes, but this ability goes away soon after.

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   JimTxMillerposted 12 years ago

   Obviously, Day 1! Absolutely nothing works better than total immersion. My son was born in Spain, and we had a lovely Spanish woman who helped out as housekeeper and occasional nanny. My son's first spoken words were Spanish. No, he had no difficulty with English, either.

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   1. 86

      Lisa Wiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think this is a really great idea if you have a native speaker on hand to immerse them. I think kids are very good at associating language with a specific person - that's how they become bilingual. My problem is that I'm just a languages teacher...

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      UndercoverAgent19posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      immersion in his language learning. Lisa, I'd like to recommend a book called "The Language Instinct," by Steven Pinker, that has lots of research data on language acquisition.

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   peachpurpleposted 12 years ago

   6 years old would be nice. My son started to learn malay and chinese in school right now. Last year, it was hard to get in interested in just listening to the story book ( foreign ) alone.

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