milligold Newbie United States Joined 4873 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Studies: English*
| Message 9 of 10 30 August 2013 at 7:27am | IP Logged |
This has nothing to do with the study, but I have a friend whose son grew up with three languages. Right from birth
he spoke to his son in nothing but Armenian. His mother spoke to him only in English. The housekeeper spoke to
him only in Spanish. The kid had no problem learning all three languages. Brilliant.
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shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4446 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French
| Message 10 of 10 30 August 2013 at 9:36am | IP Logged |
In my younger days didn't get exposed to a second language until after age 10. Someone else in the
family got practice at home in the second language much older when he was in high school.
Recently a relative came from Hong Kong for a visit. The young son around age 5 got exposed to the
second language much earlier and can instantly switch between Cantonese & English depending on who
the speaker is.
It is much easier to learn 2 or more language when you are younger. But there are people who learn to
be fluent in another language after relocating to a different country. A year ago my father's friend came
for a visit. Originally living in S. China and fluent in Cantonese & Mandarin he moved to Thailand with
his wife and both acquired Thai living for a few years. Maybe not as fluent as some native speakers but
sufficient to do shopping in local markets.
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