https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/ty8sro/is_it_really_easier_to_learn_languages_as_a_child/ Is it really easier to learn languages as a child? Studying General consensus says it’s easier to learn languages as a child, something about not being fluent your own native language so you won’t apply the rules of your language to the one you’re trying to learn (right?) But when I was a child, I tried so hard to learn a new language three times and failed miserably each time. First, I was immersed in Italian, the language of my father and grandparents every day from when I was at least 3. I went to my grandparents home every day after school and they only spoke to me in Italian, I watched Italian TV, they sung lullabies to me and everything, but I just couldn’t pick it up. From what I could vaguely remember it’s like I was watching the TV and listening to them speak, but wasn’t really focusing. It’s like I was too dumb or immature to even bother focusing on the task at hand. Then my parents sent me to Chinese school from age 6-7, and I completely failed. Then I did French in high school (also don’t remember a thing). But ever since last year I’ve taken another crack at language learning, and boy has it been easier. I did a Japanese class in my first uni semester and had no issues with remembering words. And currently studying Italian, and it’s coming to me way easier. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t know what “verbs” or “conjugation” or “plural” meant, so I just couldn’t follow along, as a lot of what was being instructed meant nothing to me. But now I just get it a lot better, now that I have a better grasp of my own language. Maybe it’s just me? Anyways just wanted to say this as I’ve been feeling so overjoyed with my progress. My grandparents are so happy with me now 😌 = There's evidence that adults learn languages faster. Children learn languages apparently easily, because they have thousands of hours of exposure. Adults already have enough experience to ground the second languages in memories and understand context better. Think about how badly a child actually speaks their own language, for example at 6 years old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhj7bqOi8cU&ab_channel=OllyRichards = Just yesterday I've asked a guy who's moved to Germany as a kid of 9 years, how long did it take for him to get comfortable with the language, and he said 4 years. I'm already starting to get there in 2. I agree with the other commenters, who make cases that it's not really the case. = People who say it's easier to learn languages as a child have a special definition for the word "easier". When we say one language is easier than another, we generally mean it takes less time to learn. Does it take a child less time to learn a language than an adult? No. So I'd like to know what they mean by "easier" and how they quantify it. = On balance I'd say no. Kids have the "privilege" of spending every moment of every day absorbing the language, and they have zero fear or shame when they try to use it prompting tons of corrections by parents and siblings. Adults have the distinct advantage of choosing what parts of the language to learn at what time, and will, in general, learn a lot more in shorter periods of time. Think about it, it took you what - 5-6 years with full immersion doing nothing else to get even reasonable at your native language as a kid? Kids are also a little bit more receptive to sounds and accents in general, but again, adults can target this area specifically and get very good as well. = Yes and no. Kids just have more time / spend more time doing it. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328
https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/ty8sro/is_it_really_easier_to_learn_languages_as_a_child/ Is it really easier to learn languages as a child? Studying General consensus says it’s easier to learn languages as a child, something about not being fluent your own native language so you won’t apply the rules of your language to the one you’re trying to learn (right?) But when I was a child, I tried so hard to learn a new language three times and failed miserably each time. First, I was immersed in Italian, the language of my father and grandparents every day from when I was at least 3. I went to my grandparents home every day after school and they only spoke to me in Italian, I watched Italian TV, they sung lullabies to me and everything, but I just couldn’t pick it up. From what I could vaguely remember it’s like I was watching the TV and listening to them speak, but wasn’t really focusing. It’s like I was too dumb or immature to even bother focusing on the task at hand. Then my parents sent me to Chinese school from age 6-7, and I completely failed. Then I did French in high school (also don’t remember a thing). But ever since last year I’ve taken another crack at language learning, and boy has it been easier. I did a Japanese class in my first uni semester and had no issues with remembering words. And currently studying Italian, and it’s coming to me way easier. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t know what “verbs” or “conjugation” or “plural” meant, so I just couldn’t follow along, as a lot of what was being instructed meant nothing to me. But now I just get it a lot better, now that I have a better grasp of my own language. Maybe it’s just me? Anyways just wanted to say this as I’ve been feeling so overjoyed with my progress. My grandparents are so happy with me now 😌 = There's evidence that adults learn languages faster. Children learn languages apparently easily, because they have thousands of hours of exposure. Adults already have enough experience to ground the second languages in memories and understand context better. Think about how badly a child actually speaks their own language, for example at 6 years old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhj7bqOi8cU&ab_channel=OllyRichards = Just yesterday I've asked a guy who's moved to Germany as a kid of 9 years, how long did it take for him to get comfortable with the language, and he said 4 years. I'm already starting to get there in 2. I agree with the other commenters, who make cases that it's not really the case. = People who say it's easier to learn languages as a child have a special definition for the word "easier". When we say one language is easier than another, we generally mean it takes less time to learn. Does it take a child less time to learn a language than an adult? No. So I'd like to know what they mean by "easier" and how they quantify it. = On balance I'd say no. Kids have the "privilege" of spending every moment of every day absorbing the language, and they have zero fear or shame when they try to use it prompting tons of corrections by parents and siblings. Adults have the distinct advantage of choosing what parts of the language to learn at what time, and will, in general, learn a lot more in shorter periods of time. Think about it, it took you what - 5-6 years with full immersion doing nothing else to get even reasonable at your native language as a kid? Kids are also a little bit more receptive to sounds and accents in general, but again, adults can target this area specifically and get very good as well. = Yes and no. Kids just have more time / spend more time doing it. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328
https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/ty8sro/is_it_really_easier_to_learn_languages_as_a_child/ Is it really easier to learn languages as a child? Studying General consensus says it’s easier to learn languages as a child, something about not being fluent your own native language so you won’t apply the rules of your language to the one you’re trying to learn (right?) But when I was a child, I tried so hard to learn a new language three times and failed miserably each time. First, I was immersed in Italian, the language of my father and grandparents every day from when I was at least 3. I went to my grandparents home every day after school and they only spoke to me in Italian, I watched Italian TV, they sung lullabies to me and everything, but I just couldn’t pick it up. From what I could vaguely remember it’s like I was watching the TV and listening to them speak, but wasn’t really focusing. It’s like I was too dumb or immature to even bother focusing on the task at hand. Then my parents sent me to Chinese school from age 6-7, and I completely failed. Then I did French in high school (also don’t remember a thing). But ever since last year I’ve taken another crack at language learning, and boy has it been easier. I did a Japanese class in my first uni semester and had no issues with remembering words. And currently studying Italian, and it’s coming to me way easier. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t know what “verbs” or “conjugation” or “plural” meant, so I just couldn’t follow along, as a lot of what was being instructed meant nothing to me. But now I just get it a lot better, now that I have a better grasp of my own language. Maybe it’s just me? Anyways just wanted to say this as I’ve been feeling so overjoyed with my progress. My grandparents are so happy with me now 😌 = There's evidence that adults learn languages faster. Children learn languages apparently easily, because they have thousands of hours of exposure. Adults already have enough experience to ground the second languages in memories and understand context better. Think about how badly a child actually speaks their own language, for example at 6 years old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhj7bqOi8cU&ab_channel=OllyRichards = Just yesterday I've asked a guy who's moved to Germany as a kid of 9 years, how long did it take for him to get comfortable with the language, and he said 4 years. I'm already starting to get there in 2. I agree with the other commenters, who make cases that it's not really the case. = People who say it's easier to learn languages as a child have a special definition for the word "easier". When we say one language is easier than another, we generally mean it takes less time to learn. Does it take a child less time to learn a language than an adult? No. So I'd like to know what they mean by "easier" and how they quantify it. = On balance I'd say no. Kids have the "privilege" of spending every moment of every day absorbing the language, and they have zero fear or shame when they try to use it prompting tons of corrections by parents and siblings. Adults have the distinct advantage of choosing what parts of the language to learn at what time, and will, in general, learn a lot more in shorter periods of time. Think about it, it took you what - 5-6 years with full immersion doing nothing else to get even reasonable at your native language as a kid? Kids are also a little bit more receptive to sounds and accents in general, but again, adults can target this area specifically and get very good as well. = Yes and no. Kids just have more time / spend more time doing it. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328
可信度非常低.....听过好多这种说法，有一次我上门做客，就看到妈妈对着去daycare回来的娃用英语问how’s your day然后就开始90%英文10%的中文跟娃说话了。 但她也像你一样发愁说从小就在家说中文为啥去了daycare了就不说中文了……我简直满脸黑线，你们其实已经都习惯了大部分时间跟娃说英文，习惯而不自知了。我也挺烦你们这种论调的，不要每天就在家蹦几个中文字然后大部分还是说英文就抱怨每天在家都说中文为啥孩子去了学校就丢掉中文了
为啥娃的中文不能推到比我好就需要我提高英文？娃中文不需要比我好啊，我可以诗词脱口就来，四大名著故事随口讲，娃不需要啊，能正常沟通交流就很好了。
反思党又来了
每家大人小孩都有自己的长处短处，大家priority也不样，一个中文说不好就要大人反思了，这种人真的好烦啊
希望层主开贴分享
夫妻一方是非中文母语的学的不好那是完全的情有可原的。凡事尽力就就好，不用管别人怎么看。
现在大学了
请定义一下融入？
我本来就是美国社会的一部分，还需要融入啥。只和白人来往，只说英文，就是融入了？我不反对和各族裔多多来往，多多参与社区文化，这和有自己的文化heritage认同，会说中文，并不矛盾。
都要，不可以吗？
既然要来这里，就不需要烦。这里是百花齐放百家争鸣的地方，有你喜欢就有你不喜欢的，心态放平和，都几十岁的人了，还会轻易被人影响？活了大半辈子还没活明白?
我不会被别人影响改变自己啊，就是觉得有些judgement很烦，这也不行？
不行就是不行，人家可以你就是不行，一听人家说你不行就跳的老高，这个理由那个外因的，反正就是听不得实话。难到你明明不行还要听人夸你很行才行？我看你这样的永远不行
娃都没有为啥老diss别人怎么做父母啊。
我是看了楼上这些，很庆幸我没有这样糊涂的父母，也特别特别感谢我小时候在我懵懂的时候父母可以正确引导我，推我学习各种东西，否则自己年纪小懵懂不知道学，家长稀里糊涂的也不知道推，等长大明白了也晚了
这怎么换位呢 首先我父母就不是英文native 甚至连英文都不会 而娃父母是中文native
学好英文比学好中文重要多了，中文是个锦上添花的事，能学当然好，学不好也没啥，真的。
我认识好几个abc都是长大才学的或者才认真学的，听说没什么问题，甚至可以读。 不少小时候被推的，都说自己中文不好，不会主动说，或者一边说还要一边道歉自己说得差。
好的，感谢分享
谢谢您，是我家娃要学习的榜样。
哪里能找到国内的暑假活动的信息呀？
现在国内家里已经没有啥可以联系的人了。。。
谢谢宽慰。 我需要以后面对这个话题礼貌微笑，默默走开。 网络和现实生活中都是这样。
说中文，没有每天念书。 在念中文书和英文书里选了后者因为孩子喜欢。 孩子五岁早八点到晚上五点回家写作业到六点多，加上吃晚饭，八点多就要睡了。觉得孩子放松的时间太少有点不忍心。 我可以尝试一下，看看中文故事收效如何。
我还遗憾我没有一个亿。 你说那我咋办？
我们都知道，16岁之前是学习语言的黄金时期，16岁之后再学习可能要付出更多的努力和时间，效果还不见得好。看看有些老留的英文水平就知道了。父母都是母语中文，这么好的资源，小时候对语言最敏感的时候轻轻松松就搞定口语和听力了。写字阅读可以慢慢来。只要不放弃，成人后至少中文交流以及到中国居住不会有任何问题。轻轻松松就可以掌握一门语言多一个技能的机会，都不知道利用起来，反而用自己一口蹩脚英语和娃交流，这么糊涂的也是够了。当然你要说娃智力不到average, 那不在我说的范围之内。中国美国是地表两大高富帅，两门语言都通晓的本来就应该是ABC一大优势。更何况，还不好说20年后美国会什么样呢。不学中文，就是自己放弃一条路。
哈哈，喜欢你的回复，超脱又善良。 有收获，第一点就是爱咋咋地，以后中文话题全部屏蔽，尽力就好。 中文说得好的我支持鼓励，不好的也不干我事。 第二楼里推荐了一本书，the subtle art of not givin a f* 准备看看哈哈
我娃1岁去英语幼儿园，但是在家一直说中文。我们没有规定她在家不许说英文。 她自己就不说。 现在7岁。英文没问题，中文基本上没有口音。 只是有时表达不是很清楚。 有一段时间中文语序是按照英文来的。 我纠正了她几次，后来就好了。
你真是想当然。大了以后学效率更高，只是别的事情多了，一般学语言的优先级就更低了。
上不了哈佛，应该讲爹妈不行，要不巨富，要不巨穷或者孩子第一代大学生。爹妈上不上 下不下的耽误孩子
推的唯一目的就是为了和长辈还能说几句话
逼孩子学中文就是我们这种父母塞给孩子最大的历史包袱 (之一)
好了好了，认知水平不在一个阶段，话不投机半句多。你自己觉得好就好
不要想当然 这个主要看娃 我家两个 老大中文贼好 中文as每次考试98-100这种的 我家老二 中文as老师追出来问你们在家到底说不说中文 这爹妈都一样 从小也是双语幼儿园 家里环境也一样 你说怎么解释
典型的以己推人。我娃从学中文起就是快乐的，现在经常读中文小说，考我脑筋急转弯，一起搓麻将，探讨春秋战国秦末汉初的故事。我推得很成功，留给孩子无价的礼物。
娃中文好不好与将来的亲子关系会有一定关系，但与孩子将来世俗的成功没有多大关系。 不想学也没有关系，根据我们这边中文学校统计，大约85%的孩子会在4,5年级放弃学中文。 想学好中文话，方法很重要，无效的方法重复多少次都是无效的，而且大人孩子都很累。这类话题已经有不少讨论，你可以搜一下，也可以直接与经验丰富的家长联系。
你自己不意识到自己小时候学的现在还能记得的东西是有多大的、持续的exposure依托的。
如果能有所借鉴，有所启发，那不是很好
没啥以己推人的，你讲的那些，除了唐诗可以背和理解几首增加abc对中华文化的了解外，别的都可以扔进历史垃圾堆，宋词都不例外，豪放派的家国山河婉约派的青楼梦好，abc们不读也罢，自己留着享用就好
怎么可能文盲呢，平时微信聊天家长只打中文，不会看不懂
我家认字写字等全靠lingoace，我们自己只是在家说，孩子一起追剧啥的。
可以买一本盖兆泉的做孩子最好的英语规划师，把她的方法用在中文上就可以。国内无数孩子用这个方法无痛学英文到很高的水平。
家长自己学不好英文，孩子就必须学好中文。好吧，谁是家长谁有理
效果很显著，是吗？一年大约能学多少字？
谢谢，去看看
大概思路就是听说先行，听力比阅读难度高两年，孩子小的时候，三四岁，四五岁，先大量时间视听输入磨耳朵，听故事看动画片，先掌握听力词汇，然后循序渐进上阅读，把听力词汇转化为阅读词汇。阅读难度慢慢增加，最终达到阅读自由。
Is it really easier to learn languages as a child? Studying General consensus says it’s easier to learn languages as a child, something about not being fluent your own native language so you won’t apply the rules of your language to the one you’re trying to learn (right?) But when I was a child, I tried so hard to learn a new language three times and failed miserably each time. First, I was immersed in Italian, the language of my father and grandparents every day from when I was at least 3. I went to my grandparents home every day after school and they only spoke to me in Italian, I watched Italian TV, they sung lullabies to me and everything, but I just couldn’t pick it up. From what I could vaguely remember it’s like I was watching the TV and listening to them speak, but wasn’t really focusing. It’s like I was too dumb or immature to even bother focusing on the task at hand. Then my parents sent me to Chinese school from age 6-7, and I completely failed. Then I did French in high school (also don’t remember a thing). But ever since last year I’ve taken another crack at language learning, and boy has it been easier. I did a Japanese class in my first uni semester and had no issues with remembering words. And currently studying Italian, and it’s coming to me way easier. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t know what “verbs” or “conjugation” or “plural” meant, so I just couldn’t follow along, as a lot of what was being instructed meant nothing to me. But now I just get it a lot better, now that I have a better grasp of my own language. Maybe it’s just me? Anyways just wanted to say this as I’ve been feeling so overjoyed with my progress. My grandparents are so happy with me now 😌
= There's evidence that adults learn languages faster. Children learn languages apparently easily, because they have thousands of hours of exposure. Adults already have enough experience to ground the second languages in memories and understand context better. Think about how badly a child actually speaks their own language, for example at 6 years old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhj7bqOi8cU&ab_channel=OllyRichards = Just yesterday I've asked a guy who's moved to Germany as a kid of 9 years, how long did it take for him to get comfortable with the language, and he said 4 years. I'm already starting to get there in 2. I agree with the other commenters, who make cases that it's not really the case. = People who say it's easier to learn languages as a child have a special definition for the word "easier". When we say one language is easier than another, we generally mean it takes less time to learn. Does it take a child less time to learn a language than an adult? No. So I'd like to know what they mean by "easier" and how they quantify it. = On balance I'd say no. Kids have the "privilege" of spending every moment of every day absorbing the language, and they have zero fear or shame when they try to use it prompting tons of corrections by parents and siblings. Adults have the distinct advantage of choosing what parts of the language to learn at what time, and will, in general, learn a lot more in shorter periods of time. Think about it, it took you what - 5-6 years with full immersion doing nothing else to get even reasonable at your native language as a kid? Kids are also a little bit more receptive to sounds and accents in general, but again, adults can target this area specifically and get very good as well. = Yes and no. Kids just have more time / spend more time doing it. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328
好，谢谢你的介绍
我娃从小双语，4岁起三语。现在三语中，两语都是听说读写俱佳，唯中文听说不错但读写不行
我一开始没太在意，后来发现有些国外长大娃中文读写水平很高，而且也没太费劲学，就开始留心，想看看有没有什么比较好的方法
有时间，不怕错，再加上有记忆力好就是容易啊，成人已经很难兼备三者了。而且对于小小孩子来说，即使是母语每天也都在接触新的词汇，新的语法，读英文书也是会有不认识的词，他们的舒适区小得多。成年人就不一样了，已经有一个强势语言在，舒适区是真的舒适，走出去难多了。
但是要没有口音，有个界限是要在青春期之前，母语里没有的音，到了十一岁后大脑就会修剪掉，和相近的音没有必要分辨。
读写、特别语法，估计是大了更容易。
我觉得不是那样。。要达到语言“好”的水平，只靠随便听听说说还是不行的。我们的中文底子也是需要在学校学习十几年，另外做大量阅读。 从小开始只有一个好处、就是发音基本没啥困难。
你家有老人照看孩子吗？
三个月就去daycare了，好早。说中文就是像美国人说的了
你可能是小时候机械记忆强，现在衰退。 我和我家小孩都不走这个路子。我现在背诗比小孩快。我小时候没背几首，肯定是不easy家长也就没动力了。
对，现在机械记忆能力下降了，单词短时间内记住了，过一段时间不用很快就忘了。背诗稍微容易一些，里面有逻辑故事或者韵脚，比单词能记得长一点
还要“提醒”别人和她孩子说中文，这是太闲了吗？还有没有一点界限感了。全世界都是为她小孩服务的吗？
LZ放宽心，那些中文好的小朋友们进了高中大学也都会把中文还给老师的。 我公司里的的小孩高中从什么gunn high/MSJ毕业的卷王之家来的都有，没一个中文“好”的。我觉得现在让小朋友学/接触中文，就是给点文化认同感，别等到进了中/大学忽悠得进了什么反华社团，忘了自己是谁就行
我孩子就对我说西班牙语对她来说简单些，因为和英文很多基础单词相似。中文对她来说难，是所有作业里花最多时间完成的
你的中学时代中文好和进公司以后中文好都是什么标准啊？中学时代学成什么样算好？
不一定。我从小跟小孩说中文，但是到他上了小学后，就是我说中文他回答用英文，然后中文越来越差，只能说简单的日常用语。读和写他怕难不学，也没法强迫他。不过现在上了高中，选外语时自己选的西班牙语，学校却安排了中文，现在每天要花很久做中文作业才能赶上他的同学们（他的同学大部分是读中文学校很多年的）
完全同意。
到了11岁之后，有了口音基本是难于纠正了。
我们学到部编四年级下册
我家一直跟娃说中文，但娃到了两岁就是不开口啊。送了daycare上了speech therapy之后就只说英语了。我没觉得低人一等，就是烦死你们这种论调。
其实我也奇怪这种说孩子就是不说中文没办法的，那孩子以后是不是也学不会其他语言了呢？上了中学毕业要学外语怎么办？还是只是不能说中文？ 或者考虑纯老美家庭，家里讲英文的，送娃去学中文，也不至于一点都不能说吧？
就是11岁没有口音 那就基本没口音了吗
可能后期不坚持中文学习，还是会口音。但是，11岁的口音很重的，那扳回来就没戏了。
说的是字正腔圆的那种中文吐字归音，不是父母滤镜下的“没口音”。
可信度非常低.....听过好多这种说法，有一次我上门做客，就看到妈妈对着去daycare回来的娃用英语问how’s your day然后就开始90%英文10%的中文跟娃说话了。 但她也像你一样发愁说从小就在家说中文为啥去了daycare了就不说中文了……我简直满脸黑线，你们其实已经都习惯了大部分时间跟娃说英文，习惯而不自知了。我也挺烦你们这种论调的，不要每天就在家蹦几个中文字然后大部分还是说英文就抱怨每天在家都说中文为啥孩子去了学校就丢掉中文了
不会中文是啥了不得的大事？周围一堆堆别的国家的移民娃， 也没见人家父母硬逼着学本国语言， 爱学不学， 到2，3代都不说本国语言了