First Language, Second Language, Third...

In AP Psychology, my teacher was reviewing over the unit of language for the AP Psychology exam that's coming up in a week or two. He explained the concept of Chomsky's language acquisition theory which basically states that there is a critical age for learning a language as is true for the overall development of the human body. This critical period for first language acquisition ends somewhere between the ages of four and twelve. If you miss this critical period or if language input doesn't occur until after this time, a person will have a hard time learning the language normally. Therefore, some parents who want their child to learn more than one language smoothly often teach their child at a young age. Once we acquire our first language, many people go on to learn a second language in middle school or even as early as elementary school. However, if a child is not exposed to the second language during the critical period while learning the first language. The child will more than likely loose or forget the second language. When people learn another language later on in life after the critical period, they run into many problems. Learning a second language is a very hard thing for many people. As you may know, each language contains its own system of rules in syntax and speech patterns. This means that words have to be pooled in a specific order to produce a sentence that could be understood by all people who speak that particular language. For example, the standard syntax order in English is subject-verb-object, while in another language like Korean it is subject-object-verb. 


When people learn their first language, there is no intervention from any other language system. However, once we know how a language works, our comprehension of the speech and grammar of that language tends to intervene with our acquisition of the rule system of the second language. We can make this process easier if we evaluate the speech and grammar rules of the new language to those of our first language system.   By being aware of the differences between two or even three languages it decreases the problem of first language interference. Therefore, we can be successfully learn the language by using our knowledge of one language to help us learn a second language. This point brings us back to the importance of one's mother language and my post about never being too late to learn a language. Even if you passed that critical stage to learn your mother language or initial first language, you can still learn the language and be able to achieve near fluency. When you learn another language past the critical period, you will more than likely not forget or lose the ability to speak the language. Therefore, for anybody who is having any doubts about learning their mother language or another language, you still have time. Although its better to learn a language at a young age, learning a language at any age whether you're in your twenties or even hitting close to your fiftieth birthday. The door to foreign languages is always open for anyone who's willing to take a chance.