Second language

You can learn a new way to talk.

This is a second language. It can be a language from a new land.

Some people learn it at school. Others learn it at home. It can be hard to learn. Most people learn it best when they are young. Children can learn to speak very fast. Adults can learn the first parts fast, too. Learning a new language helps you talk to new friends. It is a great way to see the world.

A second language is a language you speak after your first one.

Your first language is the one you learned at home as a child. Some people might lose their first language if they move to a new place. This is called language attrition.

There are two ways to gain a new language. One way is called acquisition. This is a natural way to learn by talking to others. The other way is called learning. This is when you study rules in a classroom.

Age plays a big part in how we learn. Young children often learn very fast. They can often speak like a native person. For many, age six or seven is a key time. After puberty, the brain changes how it handles language. This can lead to having an accent.

Adults can also learn quickly at first. They often move through the early stages of grammar faster than kids.

Being bilingual helps you talk to people from many cultures. It lets you understand the world in new ways.

A second language is any language you speak in addition to your first one.

Your first language is the one you learned at home during childhood. Some people might lose this early language if they move to a new place. This loss is called language attrition. A person's dominant language is the one they use most often. This is not always the same as their very first language. Learning a new language can connect you to many different cultures.

There are two main ways to gain a new language. Scientist Stephen Krashen says one way is called acquisition. This is a natural process that happens through real talking. You just need to be in natural situations where people communicate. The other way is called learning, which is a conscious effort. In this way, you study specific grammar rules. You might also receive corrections when you make a mistake. Many teachers use a mix of these different methods in class.

Research into how people gain languages is called second-language acquisition. This study looks at how children and adults use new languages. It uses ideas from both linguistics and psychology. Some thinkers believe the brain has a special module for language. Other theories suggest our general learning tools process these new words. Different teaching styles come from these many different ideas. Some methods use grammar, while others use music or movement.

Age is a very important part of this journey. Linguist Eric Lenneberg said second languages are often learned after puberty. Hyltenstam found that age six or seven is a key point. Children who learn before this can often sound like native speakers. After puberty, the brain's focus may shift to other tasks. This change might be why people develop an accent later. However, Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson say there is no exact cut-off point. It just becomes harder to reach that native level as we age.

Learning speed changes depending on how old you are. Adults and older children actually move through early grammar stages very fast. This happens when you compare them to younger children. Even so, children usually reach full fluency much sooner than adults. Some researchers say that being bilingual can affect how you feel. You might feel certain emotions more strongly in your first language. Still, knowing two languages is a great way to understand the world.

A second language, often called an L2, is any language spoken in addition to a person's first language, or L1.

This extra language might be one spoken by neighbors or another language used in a person's home country. It can also be a foreign language. A person's dominant language is the one they use most often or feel most comfortable using. However, the dominant language is not always the same as the first language. For example, the Canadian census defines a first language as the one a person first learned at home in childhood and still understands. Sometimes, a person might lose their earliest language through a process called language attrition. This often happens when young children move to a new environment or start school.

Researchers study how people gain these languages through a field called second-language acquisition, or SLA. This field uses ideas from both linguistics and psychology to understand the process. One major linguistic theory suggests the brain contains a special module with innate knowledge for language. In contrast, many psychological theories propose that general cognitive mechanisms handle language learning. Other research areas include behaviorism, which looks at verbal behavior and speech responses. Scholars also use contrastive analysis to examine the similarities and differences between languages. They also study inter-language, which views a learner's language as a dynamic, rule-governed system.

Stephen Krashen made a famous distinction between two ways of gaining language: acquisition and learning.

Acquisition is a natural process that happens when a student partakes in real communicative situations. Learning is a conscious process that involves studying isolated grammatical rules. In learning, error correction is a common part of the experience. While some educators disagree with this distinction, it remains a major part of SLA study. Because of these different theories, many teaching methods exist. These include the grammar-translation method, the direct method, and the audio-lingual method. Other styles include the Silent Way, suggestopedia, and the communicative approach.

Age plays a massive role in how well someone learns an L2. Linguist Eric Lenneberg defined a second language as one acquired after puberty. This is closely tied to the critical period hypothesis. Researcher Hyltenstam found that age six or seven is a common cut-off for achieving native-like proficiency. After this age, learners might make few errors, but they often still sound different from native speakers. Later, Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson suggested there is no exact cut-off point. Instead, they argued that it simply becomes more difficult to reach native-like levels as we get older. Some hypothesize that during puberty, brain processes shift from language to other functions like the frontal lobe's cognitive tasks.

Learning speed also changes based on a person's age. Adults and older children actually progress through early stages of syntax and morphology faster than younger children. This is true when time and exposure are held constant. However, children still reach full fluency much faster than adults do. Research by Gauthier and Genesee shows that early experiences with one language can affect L2 acquisition. Even during the critical period, children with certain early experiences might learn a second language more slowly. Additionally, learning many languages early can lead to a "double sense of national belonging." This can affect how students relate to their own cultures and national identities.

The way teachers correct mistakes has changed a lot over the last century. In the 1950s and 1960s, teachers believed all errors must be corrected at all costs. By the 1970s, researchers like Dulay and Burt found that learners acquire grammar in a set, unalterable order. Terrell's 1977 studies showed that a student's self-esteem and emotions are just as important as cognitive processing. In the 1980s, the strict corrective approach became outdated. Many researchers argued that constant correction actually hindered learning. They believed it was better to create a warm, low-stress environment. Stephen Krashen was a major supporter of this hands-off approach.

In the 1990s, the idea of explicit grammar instruction returned to many classrooms. Researchers began looking for the most useful types of correction. In 1998, Lyster found that "recasts" are not always helpful because students might not notice them. However, his 2002 studies showed that students learn better when they recognize and correct their own errors. This is because active participation helps the learning process. Noam Chomsky also noted that children bridge the gap between the poor input they hear and their complete knowledge of grammar. He called this the "Poverty of Stimulus." This shows that both L1 and L2 learners have knowledge that goes beyond what they have actually heard.

Being bilingual offers many advantages in a globalized world. It allows people to communicate across different cultural backgrounds. However, the way language affects emotions can vary. A 2012 study by Optiz and Degner looked at sequential bilinguals, who learn an L2 after their L1. They found that these speakers often relate more strongly to emotions when they perceive them in their first language. This shows that our first language remains a deeply connected part of our emotional lives.