Is It Better to Learn a Second Language as a Child or Adult?

"Parents often hear the warning: "If your child doesn't learn a second language early, they'll never be fluent." Adults, meanwhile, are told: "It's just too late for you to learn now." These claims are familiar and tidy, but misleading. Are they actually true? Is it better to learn a second language as a child or as an adult? The short answer is that it depends on what we mean by "better.""

"Much of the belief that "younger is better" comes from research on sensitive periods in brain development (Granena and Long, 2016). During childhood, the brain is especially adaptable to language input. Young children absorb sounds, rhythms, and grammatical patterns with little conscious effort, often without explicit instruction. They learn implicitly, through immersion, exposure, and everyday interaction. This is why children who are exposed to a second language early are more likely to develop a near-native accent."

Language learning outcomes depend on goals and measures of success. Sensitive periods make childhood brains particularly adaptable to sounds, rhythms, and grammatical patterns, enabling implicit learning through immersion and everyday interaction. Early exposure increases the likelihood of near-native pronunciation because pronunciation is time-sensitive and later learners often retain first-language sound patterns. Adults more often retain phonological fingerprints of their first language and exhibit greater self-monitoring and caution, driven by a mature prefrontal cortex, which can hinder spontaneous fluent speech. Both children and adults have distinct advantages and difficulties, so optimal timing depends on whether accent, fluency, or explicit knowledge is prioritized.

Read at Psychology Today