Adults learn language to fluency nearly as well as children: study

Re:Adults learn language to fluency nearly as well as childr... by jwr on Sunday May 12, 2019 @01:01PM (#19893027)

> I have been teaching languages for years and the bottom line is the vast majority of adults don't put in the hours.

There is another important aspect: learning your second or third foreign language (or subsequent ones) is easier than the first one. I think studies or comparisons which neglect to take that into account are flawed. Adults (at least outside the US) are likely to be learning their second foreign language, not their first, hence should do relatively well, in spite of a (possible) age handicap.

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Re:Adults learn language to fluency nearly as well as childr... by retiredcoder on Sunday May 12, 2019 @02:21PM (#19893530)

I think it really depends on the set of languages, e.g.: I can see that for an English native speaker learning French after Spanish can be easier but I can’t see that helping with Chinese.

Well, at least didn’t help me much

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