aaleks wrote:For instance, reading. Another idea about babies learning the first language is that they get corrected by their parents all the time and that how they end up speaking the grammatically correct language. I don't remember being corrected by my parents or other adults, and in those cases when I got corrected, I either did't care, or just got annoyed. I believe that kids simply pick up the way their parents speak while correction plays a secondary role. Either way, what really improved my Russian was reading.
Yes indeed. The idea children only learn from their parents is misguided anyway. At that point you've basically only learned to mirror your parents' world; especially if you're an only child. Most of the real language learning happens when we reach school age and mix with different people, being exposed to unfamiliar input and interactions. Plus reading...
aaleks wrote:Even though I don't think my vocabulary was good enough to fully understand Les Trois Mousquetaires by Alexandre Duma when I was 11 but I like the book. My vocabulary grew and my ability to express myself improved without me even noticing that was happening. And then I've seen the same effect of reading on my English, and now French. If there is a magic bullet in language learning, to me it is reading. No Anki or any other SRS can beat the effect reading has on the size of my vocabulary.
Time and reading. It's difficult to be able to look back and appreciate how much actual time went into reading and accruing all those words and structure from reading. Then recognising some of these in language around you (on TV too). There is one thing I'll say about childhood reading vs reading as an adult language learner. When you're a 10 year-old kid and you start really reading you're already functional in the language, it's a boost. As an adult learner you're only becoming functional alongside trying to accrue vocabulary whilst having one or more language you can already use for functionality. This is more or a hindrance.
aaleks wrote:By the way, kids not always such a sponge as many tend to think. I've read at least a couple of stories of young kids moving to a new country and struggling with learning/acquiring the language of the country. They eventually learned the language but it was not so easy for them as their parents and other adults had expected.
A fair point and true. Also because, like above, they already have a means for communication. It would likely depend on how much they needed to communicate in the new language and how much exposure they had. Put into an 'international school' while papaaah is stationed overseas, and speaking largely English usually doesn't cut it.