do you think its easier to teach a child a new language rather than a adult?

Answer 1

It is easier to teach children because they still have room to learn.

Answer 2

It is *definitely* easier. An adult needs lots of practice and learning time to get the basics of a language; a child just needs to hear the language and she/he will learn to speak it perfectly. Until a child is about 10-15 years old (depending on the individual child), they can learn a *first* language (or several or *many* first languages). After that time, they can only learn a second language and almost never perfectly.

Answer 3

Humans have a window of opportunity to learn language from birth to six or seven years of age. So, exposure to multiple languages in these times is very advantageous for continued intermediate learning. They may use several languages naturally. After that it is difficult to motive the average student to take on a new language on the level needed to converse on an intelligent level. This topic may be argued by intensive language schools throughout the world in favor of young adults ability to adapt a new language with diligent work. For example, the Later Day Saints, Mormons send you missionaries throughout the world. They often learn a new language within a matter of months in the country they are assigned. They become remarkably proficient by the end of the two year missionary work.

Answer 4

Hi, yes, it is easier to teach a child a new language since they haven't developed their mind totally and are still collecting information. An adult already has a whole lifestyle that their used to and its harder to change and learn a new language.

Answer 5

It depends on what you mean by "teach".

Children are basically "hardwired" for language acquisition; they learn language naturally from the environment. When a child under about the age of 7 (or 15, depending on who you're talking to) is exposed to a new language, he/she will learn it very naturally, generally as naturally as his/her first language. Children who learn new langauges under the age of 7 can usually not be distinguished from children who were exposed to the langauge since birth; in every respect they seem like native speakers.

However, if by "teach" you mean that you will use textbooks, classes, and so forth, adults might be better at learning by that method. Adults have cognitive and analytical skills that children lack which allow them to make some initial gains on children. However, adults don't usually reach native-speaker-like status in the language that they learn.

Answer 6

Of course. Children soak it up like sponges.

"It is an accepted fact that the younger the child, the easier it is for them to learn a second language. Children are able to understand words and hear small sound differences that adults often miss -- making understanding more difficult for adults."

Answer 7

Yes, yes it is. I'm sixteen and taking my third language in high school, for a fourth year (once school starts) Its still rather easy, but now that I'm getting older, Its harder to I guess you can say "place" it in my brain. And I know its said that once you learn something you never forget it, and its true to an extent. But I don't know. But it is easier to teach a child.

Answer 8

It is easier to teach children numerous languages because at an early age the receptors in their brain are still developing, and their ability to learn is immense... there are also less things to hold them back... they are not afraid of trying new things, and pronouncing things with the wrong accent does not matter to them as it would with an adult. They are uninhibited :)

Answer 9

It is easier to teach a child a new language. There brains are still forming for some time, and they have to ability to absorb a lot of material and knowledge. As you get older and your brain develops, you tend to stick to what you know, and have a hard time learning new.

Answer 10

A child learns a new language easier, if he's spoken to in that language on a daily basis...but sitting down and actually studying it is a different story.

Answer 11

OH! So much easier. My 13 year old son is fluent in French (English is his mother tongue) and I am struggling mightily with the language! My head is so dense it is not funny. Although my attempt to speak the language is quite comical. The brain is a muscle so it stands to reason children learn much faster than adults.