Quote Originally Posted by vox05
Quote Originally Posted by paulb
The point about first language acquisition is that it is done fairly quickly without (normally) relying on teaching grammar. By the time a child turns four he has mastered the majority of the grammar he will ever learn. I have a four year old son who speaks nearly flawless English within his vocabulary limits. Since he didn't really talk for the first year, that amounts to just three years of active language learning.
Toddlers learn grammar ( not just separate words ) of their native language long before they begin to speak. Google for "head turn preference". And when they become older, they lose the ability to learn that fast ( e.g. distinguish sounds that are allophonic in their first language )
Just a link.
http://www.pediatricservices.com/parents/pc-34.htm
I have no disagreement with that, except that from what I've read the ability to attain native pronunciation remains until around age 13 or so. It's been presented to me (in my ESL teaching program) that the biggest advantage children have in acquiring a second language is not some innate ability of children (as opposed to adults) to learn language, but rather the fact that children don't have other responsibilities taking up their time and mental energy. If you could spend all day playing with your friends who speak the language you want to learn, you could probably learn it very quickly also.