by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: March 16, 2009   Last Updated: June 06, 2011

When a child takes their first steps into the world, they are influenced by the sights and sounds which surround them. At this stage of life, a child is curious and learns by repetition or copying those behaviors of those who they spend time with. The ideal age for learning languages is childhood since the learning stages are relatively new and open to new ideas.

*Listening and imitation
*Advantages against adult learners
*Learning from an early age
*Having no inhibitions
*Wanting to succeed

Listening and imitation

Children mimic those sounds which they hear. Even in their own mother tongue, a child will start to say simple words simply because they have heard them. This is the beginning of language learning. Introduce that child to an environment where the words that they hear are in another language and they will also imitate those words. If you notice how children pick up new words within their home, this is because children need the stimulus of sounds to copy. They listen, and although they may not know the significance of the words spoken, they learn by response what effect those words have on others.

Similarly a child who is surrounded by people who speak another tongue will learn easier than those who have already formed speech patterns. First the words and pronunciation are tackled, though with agility of mind, a child soon learns how the words go together to make coherent sentences and phrases.

Advantage over adult learners

The advantage of a child learning at a critical age is that they have no preconceptions about how to use their mouth to form sounds. Adults find the pronunciation of foreign words difficult because they are not the sounds that they were trained to speak in, and this holds them back from the learning process. A child, at a critical age, will not only speak the language, but will be able to speak it like a native simply because they know no different.

Learning from an early age

Submerge a child in a situation where they are exposed to foreign languages, and they learn faster than adults do, though imitation, repetition and response. They are adaptable and will notice how their speech is responded to much more easily than an adult.

Having no inhibitions

One of the hurdles of learning a foreign language is self confidence. A child will learn faster because they don't have the same preconceptions about failure as an adult does. They are less likely to have inhibitions and are unafraid of trying out new words. Their vocabulary will increase

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