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PAGE 14
Langrfage
continued from pege 4
easier to master before puberty.
Part of the reason why children more
easil'7 iearn ianguages ir simply the fact thaE
t
well, .v think like kids. "lChildrenJ absorb
langui- i and they love language," says
Geiler Ltrgasry. Because they are more play-
fui, they end up learning languages indi-
rectly through garr,er and songs,
Thor Templin, a graduate student in the
Deparfment cf German and the
Department of 5candfnavian Studies at UW,
agrees. Templin, who has taught German to
,:hildren fro'n five to l4 years of age, tyr
kidr are iei: afraid to make mistakes. "With
^:duit: lhere'i aiwayr that moment of hesfta-
tron ,here fJrev're trying to process the
rrarnnar-" he obseryes. 'Adula have thil
probtern where they want to know every-
thrng ri.qht away."
A lack cf self-consciousness isn't the only
ieason why chiliren easily absorb languages.
vVhile tne physiological mechanisms of lan-
tLr,',_qe ;cquisition are not weil understood,
one iheor;i suggesb that the brain is more
,r,;rile;bie o'- plasfic when we are young.
Safi'ran likens the brain to real estate that
A physiological theory explaining in{anb' acuii'v io
learn languages ruggerfu thcir brains or more roal-
ieable or plaiiic. The rtudy. howe';er, failr tc
addrers their propenliN to eat pl;stic.
hasn't yet been deveioped. As we ierrr. :he
brain becomes cclonizec lnct, once coic,-
nized, u harCer to change.
As UW profesror of piychciogy l-Vark
5eidenberg expiains, bv the time or-ir ccm-
mand of our fir:t ianquage ir very' good,
MAD]5ON PARENT
urually by five or six years of age, our brain
has lost the flexibility or plasticity to abrorb
others as easily. By pre-pubescence, around
eight or ten years of age, learning ianguages
becomer significantly more drfficu lt.
Yet, 5eidenberg maintains, children older
than frVe have not necessarily rnissed a gold-
en opportunity, In fac! he argues, younger
children are still so occupied with straight-
Part of the reason why
children more easily learn
languages is simply ihe
iact that, well, tl"rey think
like kids.
ening or:t the rvorld that they have pienty
enough to di;cover. By five or six, cn the
other hand, kiCs knou,nore, such ar the
obje,:a to which worCs are referring yet
ther stili retain a "voracio'-ts capacity- tc
ie.: i'n. "
M,rreover, the factors that conti'ibute to
ianquaqe acquisition are not entir'ely bioiog-
ic;iJ. Other issuet, what te cails scc;ai cir-
crrrnstances and motrvation," are cr:e iil.
continueci o* page 2O

These include the amount of Fo,- older kids, txchange pro-

support an individuat receives grams and language camps can
while Jearning a ianguage, the provide ihem wfth benefit-s that
PAGE 20 degree.of exporure to lhe lan- last much longer than the expe-
guage (fmme rsian, for example, rience ibelf, Programs in and

LangUage continued rrom pase 4

acceierates language learning at
any age), ;nd whether or not
that exposure war in an isolated
and iimited cornmunity, Of
ccurue, individual cases also vary
due to what Saffran calls simply
"talent."
U nfortunateJy, Saffran point-s
out while we best acquire lan-
guages when we are young the
Amerfcan educational system
rarely mandates foreign lan-
guage study untrl high school or
even college-after the brain's
plasUcity is significantly limited.
By then, she iaments, "it's way
too late."
Many language programj
now gear a portion of their cur-
riculum toward kids" Berides
growing up in a bilingual house-
hold, immerion in eiementary
around Maciison cffer a variety
ofapprcaches to language edu-
cation. 5ome are listed belou/;
t Parents of 6-12-month-old
infants interested in partrci-
pating in Saffran's rtudy can
contact her at
608_263_587 6. or wr,rrv.wais-
man.wfsc. edu / infa ntlea rningi
fnfant-research. html
*
The Madison Chinese
Language Schooi offers
Chinese classes to child:'en
and adulti:
www. mcll.dc it.wisc.edu
. The UniversitT* of Wisconlin's
Division of Continuing 5tudies
offeru a variety ot'language
clasresto children and adults.
608-262-1156. or
'vww.dcs.wisc' edu I :lals. I lan-
s

ichoois is the most effectrVe guage.htrnl

;'neanr cf introducing children
tc another ianguage. But even
cr-;ifu ral pfograrnr, language
':la:ses and language-oriented
rne,jia wfil pique a child': inter-
est.in and sensitvity to other
cu ltu i'es.
' Concordia Lairguage iriliaqes
in Moorhead, lvlinn. r,fiert 12
cii{ferent language ca;:i1:i for
one, two or iour u'eek riaYl
each summer;
www. co rd.e<r'u i ciePt. ch,'. I