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Adults CAN Learn New Languages Quickly

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    Frans Oosterholt
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    In this article: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/tips-to-learning-a-second-language-as-a-family/ (that you can also find in our Notifications) I read the following:

    ‘In an examination of Spanish second-language learners, the researchers found that after minimal training, the brain activity between sentences that relied on grammatical features unique to each language resembled that of native speakers.

    In other words, the brain activity within an English speaker saying, writing, and reading: “Las flores son hermosas,” or “the flowers are beautiful,” is identical to that found in the brain of a Spanish speaker, despite the fact that this target sentence uses grammatical features not found in English, such as gender and number agreements.

    “I think it’s cause for optimism for university foreign language instruction. It shows that, even with limited exposure in the college classroom, learning can happen quite quickly and efficiently,” said KU linguistics professor Alison Gabriele, the co-author of the paper, to Language Magazine.’

    Thas is an interesting and bold statement. I would be interested to know what practicing language trainers think of it. (see also: https://www.languagemagazine.com/2021/07/01/adults-can-learn-new-languages-quickly/ )

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