Posted on July 29, 2011 by Eilidh MacDonald
Everyone knows that learning languages becomes more difficult as you get older. Our brains are no longer sponge-like and, as the saying goes, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. This provides a nice, ready-made excuse for those of us trying to balance evening classes with work and family commitments. We don’t have time to sit and learn vocabulary every evening, but even if we did there wouldn’t be much point now that we are over the age of ten. Right?
Well maybe not. Recent research from Israel (presented at the 12th International Congress for the Study of Child Language in Montreal) shows an adult brain is more suited to learning a language’s grammar than a child’s brain. Read more...