The human brain is wired to learn language at a very early age. It is a shame we wait until grade school to consider teaching a second language. By that time the ship has (mostly) already sailed.

Babies are born with an ‘excess’ of language synapses. These synapses either strengthen or die out based on the language(s) a child is immersed in. For example, it is well known that the Japanese language can not distinguish between ‘L’ and ‘R,’ but did you know that all babies no matter where they are born can distinguish these and other sounds? They can distinguish ALL sounds of all languages humans speak. It is not until they are brought up in a specific language that their native language processing synapses strengthen at the expense of their non-native language processing synapses being atrophied. And once these non-native synapses are gone, they are difficult to get back. It makes sense — why spend resources building/maintaining nerve connections that won’t be used? This is why it becomes increasingly difficult to learn new languages the older we get.

Language is a purely social experience. Studies show that a child “taught” language by television may not learn anything at all, while a child surrounded by humans speaking will learn it surprisingly quickly. There is something inherently social about language that TVs simply cannot reproduce. Interaction with another human being is required for us to learn language. Sorry, baby Einstein just ain’t gonna cut it.

The Charlie Rose show had a spectacular series on the human brain. Check out The Developing Brain episode for a discussion of language and language acquisition by children. Check out the entire series, it’s fascinating.