Why You CAN Learn Languages FASTER Than Children...

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro
0:56 - Kids learn languages more naturally
1:47 - First language acquisition & feral children
2:25 - Baby talk (“Motherese”)
3:28 - Ages 3-4 (Survival Language)
4:30 - Adult judgements & inhibitions
5:17 - How long does a child take to learn their mother tongue?
6:07 - Adult learner advantages
6:39 - What parts are easier for kids?
8:01 - You’re already a linguistic superhero!
9:03 - What can we learn from kids?
9:49 - How to model kids’ linguistic environment

📺 VIDEO CLIPS

Interview with my 4 year old

[dereknoble]

I’ve heard people say “I’ve been studying this language for two years and I speak worse than an 8 year old”
But how long do they think it took the 8 year old? 😂

[ithinkthistimeitsgoingtowork]

I’ve been learning Japanese for about 2 years. (Well, I really started putting daily effort into it around a year ago) and I speak Japanese better than a Japanese 2 year old lol. (But not much better).

[Lilitha]

An adult will pretty much learn anything faster than a child if they put in the same amount of time. Since they understand and remember patterns better and use their time more efficiently. The biggest advantage of learning stuff as a kid, is generally you just have more time.

[athenagreen]

"You probably were not a... feral kid"

Damn, how did you know???

[angelesgonzalez]

I speak Korean better than a 8 y.o child and just took me two years of this quarantine to achieved that 😁

[tedcrowley]

I think the key thing (which most people ignore) is the 24/7 teacher (parent, older sibling) giving them constant feedback. You mention this at the start, and throughout your analysis. Imagine how fast I would learn a new language, if I could afford many hours every single day of Skype interaction with a patient teacher! Kids don't "pick up by listening". They have help.

[ntatenarin]

Yes! I was hoping you would state how long it takes a child to learn a language, even if it's his/her mother tongue (5:16). Yes, it seems like children are geniuses (of course they are!) when it comes to learning languages, but when you think about it, it does take them much longer than we think.

I remember having a French substitute teacher speaking fluently that I thought he was French. He told me he just studied aggressively for 2 years straight.

[DeTAYL.]

You've really been killing it lately with the topics for your videos/podcast! Excellent work, Olly! Saludos!

[randydykhuis]

Great video Olly! Another way to think about how long it takes children to learn a language is to measure by hours rather than years. Assume, conservatively, that a young child sleeps 8 hours a day. That means they are learning language 16 hours a day, or 5, 840 hours a year. Multiply that by 6 or 7 years and you can see how long it takes child to really get a good grasp on their native tongue.

[Tehui]

I've been learning my target language since the beginning of 2019. I'm at a B1 level and slowly moving towards a B2. I'm convinced that it will take me another 7+ years for my skill level to reach a C level in the European Language Framework. It really does take thousands of hours of engaging in the language to get to a proficient level.

[joachim]

The strongest advantage children have is that they don't know any language, and therefore don't translate phrases in their head before speaking, it just comes out naturally.

[terryro]

I remember my young daughter searching her closet. She said she wanted her suitcase. She was insistent and I finally realized she wanted her bathing suit. A rookie mistake in language learning.

[ibrahimali]

Awesome video as always, Olly! ❤️ Thanks so much!

[twlee]

I've heard that babies can learn hand gestures for simple concepts (like food, tired, potty, etc.) well before the age of speaking. I had a coworker who was doing this with his kid. Another coworker gave him a book on baby sign language. I was flipping through it and it was all situational practical stuff...plus dinosaur. Hahaha!! What baby needs to know how to sign dinosaur??!!

[The_Lord_Of_Confusion]

this topic comes up over and over again when I talk to "monoglots" and you have a very nice presentation indeed

[cameronhubberstey]

I totally resonate with this video. I just read the first chapter of the “Italian short stories for beginners” book… even though I could not understand every word or grammar structure, I still got a general gist of the plot and I loved it. Thank you :)

(I’ve been learning for 5 months)

[belstar]

When i am learning a new language i am getting a nostalgic feeling.

[josedelnegro]

Yours was the revelation of my life. You said few if any one speeks Latin. That took my mind out of the gutter which is the how to learn a language debate. Thanks.

[victorcb]

nou, je hebt gelijk! Ik ben begonen met nederlands leren sommige maanden geleden, en het is een beetje moeilijk, maar niet zo lastig omdat had ik al engels geleerd...Na zes maanden denk ik dat ik kan heel goed met dit niveau me voelen, terwijl een kind kan het niet

[lisaahmari]

Thank you for this. I never thought about it from this perspective and it is very very heartening!!