3564. An Interesting Quotation about Learning a Foreign Language...

Can adults learn a foreign or second language, or rather this is more for children and infants? Can I actually learn a language? 

Lately I'm telling you that that is also perfectly possible for grownups! 

Thus now I offer you a quotation from another expert at learning languages, E. W. Stevick (1989) Success with Foreign Languages: Seven Who Achieved It and What Worked for Them. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International. 

Look, "Until a few years ago, people assumed that this natural ability to 'acquire' a language died out at about the age of puberty. After that, it was thought, people could gain control of new languages only by 'learning' them. In this special technical sense, 'learning' is what we do in classrooms, with a textbook, focusing on one thing at a time under the guidance of a a teacher. 

More recently, we have begun to change that view. It is still true that small children cannot learn from textbooks, of course. But we are discovering that, to a greater or smaller extent, every adult can not only 'learn', but also 'acquire' language. 

In this sense, 'acquiring' a language means taking in sounds and experiences, and then organizing them unconsciously." You can find that on page 4 from that interesting book. Have a nice week.

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