How did u manage to learn and understand ur own mother tongue language?

Question

Is that a way to breach into languages without attending foreign classes?

Answer 1

All babies are born with almost all the speech abilities for all the languages in the world. As they grow, only the speech ablilities in the languages they've obtained tend to stay, so that's why it's harder for adults to pronouce and learn a new language. It's in infants' nature to imitate the people and environment around them; that's how they learn to walk and talk. Babies hear and pay attention to the sounds they hear from the people around them, and then imitate the sounds. At this stage, babies only know how to speak the sounds, but not know the meaning of the words. It's until growing to an older age, do they start to learn and build vocabulary. So the more different sounds babies hear from childhood, the more languages they are to speak. Unless they are removed from the environment of the language, the speech ability for the language will advance as the baby grows up.

Second langauge acquisition is different from how you acquired your mother tongue. By learning a second language after primary school, you are learning it consciously, while learning your mother tongue as a baby was learned while your your cognitive state was not as advanced. So it's not as possible to reach the same level of proficiency and advancement in your second language, compared to your first language(s).

For more detailed explanations, these sites should help:
- http://whyfiles.org/058language/baby_talk.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_language

Answer 2

Hearing words, mimicking them, and figuring out the meaning.

This is the basis for the Pimsleur Language method, which you can buy on CD in most foreign languages (all the major ones). There's no reading or writing involved, just listen to the words/meanings and repeat them by trying to imitate the speaker. It's a good way to learn the language and develop a good accent. I learned Spanish in a classroom for 8 years, now I'm learning French with Pimsleur, and I'm amazed how much progress I've made in French in such a short time.

Answer 3

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but I think you might be proposing that people can learn new languages in the same way that they learn their first language.

This is an idea that has been around for a while in different forms, with somewhat limited success. For example, Berlitz is a famous company that bases its language classes on trying to teach people new languages exactly how they learned their first language. However, adults just don't seem to have the same capacity for learning language that children have, for whatever reason.

Answer 4

about mother tongue : I read a lot (besides speaking it everyday!)
reading helps you develop vocabulary and construction of phrases.

about foreign languages : the easiest is to live where that language is spoken, but the best is to have some guidance whatsoever.

for instance : I tried to learn Spanish by myself, with books, and get no great result, while when I moved to Buenos Aires I managed to learn it pretty well (speaking, reading and writing) in about 3 months. with big help from my husband who is a native and really gifted for teaching others....

PS: I guess your question was about how to improve on languages, apart from the newborn natural way of breaching into world....

Answer 5

Learning to speak your mother tongue happens without effort. Our brains are made to conform to the language we most often hear in our "formative" years.

Learning to WRITE your mother tongue, or to speak or write a foreign tongue, takes effort. I recommend classes, but there are tapes, CDs, and such that can help.

Answer 6

6 languages: Oriya, Hindi. English, Chhattisgarhi, Russian and Ukrainian. i'm from Chhattisgarh yet my mom tongue is Oriya. So I grew up conversing Oriya, Hindi and Chhattisgarhi. Learnt English interior the college. nicely suited now I stay and learn in Ukraine. i'm gaining wisdom of the community languages i.e. Russian and Ukrainian.

Answer 7

You start learning your mother tongue language first from your mother then in school where it is made compulsory.Since you start from childhood you can easily learn your mother tongue since you also happen to talk at home.So all the time you talk and learn to write in your mother tongue.

Answer 8

I believe this problem only happen in Singapore! As only Singaporean don't use mother tongue to speak to their mother! It could be due to the culture or education here, but it's certainly a problem that all Singaporean may want to think about it.

Answer 9

Firstly, guys, your usage of the term "mother tongue language" is tautologic - tongue = language in this construction. Then, how I acquired my mother tongue: mom said "ma-ma" and I, being orally fixated ~ qv Freud ~ reciprocated with an attempt at enunciating the source of nutrition. :)

Answer 10

it came to me itself.