Re: Do Children Learn Languages at Different Rates?

Helmut Weber wrote: 
Hi Joseph,

I don't believe it, and if I did, it wouldn't mean much to me.
It's like a race. Doesn't matter where you are after the first round.

What is it all about?
A proof that Turkish is simpler than other languages?
A proof that Turkish children are smarter?
A proof that Turkish society takes more care of children then others?

In one child families like in Germany it may be harder to develop
communicative skills.

The study may have found something out,
but it fails in interpreting it.

Lets say it is a fact, but what does it mean?

Helmut Weber


As I see the language as a kind of obstacle that has to be overcome before exchanging ideas, it could mean for me, that one language is closer than another to the 'native' way a human processes ideas and therefore easier to grasp and use.

It would be very interesting in this context for me to know if the speed with which children acquire a language correlates with the speed adults are able to successfull communicate complex and complicated concepts. Maybe the gains at the beginning (learning the language) are at cost of lower speed and expresiveness in communicating ideas later on?
I would be glad if someone could share some ressources related to the efficiency in communicating ideas depending on language.
I mean, that there is not much difference between the four languages I have learned (English, German, Polish, Russian), but it appears to me that English is superior to the other three when the task is to present ideas in a short and precise way, except, that it provides too much alternatives for expressing similar things and sometimes hard to resolve ambiguity I am still overwhelmed with.

Claudio
.

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