Learning Language at Any Age

As the world gets smaller, billingual skills are becoming ever more important. People with bilingual skills have more travel, educational and career opportunities. And parents know a bilingual child has great potential in today's world. But when should a person begin learning a second language? Many experts believe in a "critical period" from birth to 5 years. They say that language learning is easiest and most effective at this time. Actually, success stories can come at any age. Still, each age group has its own characteristics that are important to consider.



Blessed bilingual babies(birth-2years)



Babies become bilingual naturally when their parents are fluent in more than one language. Children who learn two language from birth have many advantages. Their language "class" is full-time and their "teachers" are doing parents who give them plenty of attention. These lucky learners usually achieve flawless pronunciation in both languages.



Tiny talkers(3-5years)



Young children have flexible tongues, light schedules and fearless attitude toward learning new languages. Bilingual preschoolers pick up their first language from their parents. Then they are introduced to another language at a preschool or childcare center. They mantain their first language because it is spoken at home. And they acquire the new language through songs, stories and other enjoyable activities at school. Young children need to have their first language supported to learn the new language successfully. Equal exposure to both languages will get tiny students talking!



Challenges for school-age language learners (6-13years)



On the surface, school- age learners may be better equipped to learn a second language. Study habits improve as students mature. And research shows olders children can perform better on language tests. Unfortunately, children learning a second language in the classroom often fail to gain life-long proficiency. Their exposure to the new language may be limited to a few hours each week. Pressure from parents and tests also makes language learning less enjoyable and less successful. After age 6, children's learning enviorments will affect fluency far more than their age.



Hope for mature learners(14 years and up)



Older learners face severals difficulities. Their busy schedules make it difficult to squeeze in language classes. Their tongues refuse to cooperate to produce new sounds. And their pride prevent them from practicing with native speakers. On the bright side, older students have many language strategies available to them. To gain proficiency later in life, try making the following techniques part of your daily routine. These techniques do not involve embarrassing activities or lengthy classes. In fact, you'll probably find these exercises relaxing and enjoyable.



Reniew your day. Think in your second language about your actions, experiences and observations from each day.



Eavesdrop. Pay special attention to the sounds native speakers make when they talk. By emphasizing sounds and phrases as you learn, you are more likely to master the pronunciation and grammar.



To improve your writing skills, read what really interests you, even if it's challenging.



Talk to youself ! Imagine what you would say in different situations. Do it consistently and you can increase your chances of becoming bilingual at any age.



summary:

Bilingual skills are becoming important. If we can learn a second language, we can get the chance to find work and help us more in the future. Maybe, different age learning language has different. Language learning is easiest and most effective at this time. when we learn language in different age , we can have different effective.



you have never seen words:

1.bilingual 2.flawless 3.eavesdrop 4.dote



useful words:

1.characteristic 2.acquire 3.equip 4. consistently



thinking
In fact, the children learning are so fast. What subject they also realize fast, learning language is special. In different steps children they have their special abilities. These are infant ability. For example, if they who 0~2 years old, their parents are also their teachers. They can have good pronuciation. Language is like a bridge that can connect with sides each other. If we are good at languages, we can make more friends and broden our horizon. In the competition in the society heavily, our parents have desplined children since they were very young.