Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Language Learning: Easier for children or adults?

There is often a great deal of discussion about who learns languages better based on the situation, language skill, exposure to language, and age. However, just saying that children learn better is a very simplistic answer. Based on what you know and have experienced, share your ideas on this topic. I'm sure we can come up with some interesting discussion.

Randall

12 comments:

  1. I think children learn faster and better(generally speaking) because they're not too self-conscious. Adults, on the other hand, are too afraid of making mistakes, and this prevents them from learning and even improving their knowledge of the language in question.

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  2. l think children learn better than adults .Also, borning place is important.ıf l want to born in England ,l could be speaking well.Chıldren mind is new brain .

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  3. I think children learn easier than adults, too. Because I think that language learning beses on the learner's remembrance. And children can remember more things easier than adults.
    So returnee students from U.S. are good English speakers.

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  4. My opinion about that.I know the childrens have a better capacity to learn faster then adults because his brain is like a new toy but adults can learn too not in the same way of them.Remember the adults have the experience of life.

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  5. I had always thaught that children learn faster and easier than adults but I found out that it is not true, the adults can learn faster and better because they are responsable and most of them are learning English because they want to and need it.

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  6. Evryone sais childlen can learn faster, but I don't think so. Adults have more vocablary of their native languages, and they know how to studey efectively, so I think adults can learn it better. Onthe other hand, children have to study about what the words in their languages mean to know what it means in English, and they can't study systematically.
    But anyway how much you can learn depends on your enthusiasm. Everyone, let's study hard and be better English speakers!

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  7. I am a teacher of a foreign language, not English, and I see that in general adults have more difficulties to learn a new language. I agree with bruno when he says that adults are afraid of mistakes, children are more open about it. However, adults have some advantages face to children because if an adult is motivated that person is going to learn very fast and in the case of children at school the most of them are not very interested in learning a new language and it makes hard their progress. I has had adult students who had shown magnificient advances thanks to their high enthusiasm in spite of the difficulties that they have had at the beginning. On the contrary many children who have shown to be very good at languages did not advance because of their lack of interest.

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  8. Sorry but I disagree. Children have not developed the cognitive skills and self-discipline that adults have.
    Adults may have develop different skills and strategies for learning.
    Adults' capacity for understanding and logical thought is greater.
    Children's brains are flexible, the ease they have to remember is the same that they have to forget or learn other things.

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  9. I think is easier to learn english when your are young kid because you have a fresh memory and that can learn things easier than a older person because and older person knows more things that why he provabily take longer time to learn a knew laguage or words......

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  10. My name is Anibal I am from Mexico.
    Many peple say dad youger people lernd faster than old people and I think thas true whay, because old people have a alot things to take care abut, and it is a big problem for old some one how whants to lernd a new language.

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  11. I think that learning languages is more easier to children than adualts.
    Because it is said that children have better memories than adults do.

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  12. to my mind, i would say that as most of the people answering this question, children are more able to learn than adults but this is not really true because if adults train their brain, they have the same capacity of learning..
    so the adults have to train their brain and sure to have the enthusiam to learn faster.

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Thanks for posting a comment. I appreciate your interesting in sharing your ideas.

Best,

Randall

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