Table of Contents
Is it possible to learn an accent as an adult?
Adults certainly can learn to speak with a native-like accent but it takes a lot of *determined* practice as you have to train your ear to hear sounds properly you normally ‘don’t hear’ for your native language (not to mention your tongue to produce them).
What age is it easiest to learn a second language?
Paul Thompson and his team found out that the brain systems in charge of language learning have accelerated growth from six years old until puberty. Another study was done at MIT and it concluded that the most optimal time to learn a new language and achieve native fluency was by age 10.
Can We learn a new language if we are over 20?
This is not to say that we cannot learn a new language if we are over 20. There are numerous examples of people who pick up a language later in life, and our ability to learn new vocabulary appears to remain constant, but most of us will not be able to master grammar like a native speaker—or probably sound like one either.
Do native speakers of a language learn some sounds before others?
Native speakers of a language do tend to master some of its sounds before others. In English, p, m, n, h, and w are among the first consonants acquired by children, while z, j, v, and the two th sounds (as in think and this) are among the last to be mastered.
Why does language-learning ability decline at 18?
There are three main ideas as to why language-learning ability declines at 18: social changes, interference from one’s primary language and continuing brain development. At 18, kids typically graduate high school and go on to start college or enter the work force full-time.
Why do people have different accents in different languages?
This sounds wrong, or ‘foreign’, to native speakers of the language. The other kind of accent is simply the way a group of people speak their native language. This is determined by where they live and what social groups they belong to.