IAmTriscuit t1_j4ixe85 wrote on January 16, 2023 at 1:11 AM

Reply to comment by 5slipsandagully in What it means to “know” a language by thenousman

Yeah, absolutely it does. A huge part of additional language teaching is learning exactly how those differences manifest and what teachers can do to best navigate those challenges and differences. But it is undoubtedly, 100 percent possible for someone to learn a language well past the "critical period".

marenicolor t1_j4kf9lp wrote on January 16, 2023 at 9:30 AM

But not for first language acquisition. This has been shown in studies of children who experienced extreme neglect. Perhaps the original commenter was mixing up information they've heard and applied it to learning additional languages. I agree this thread has been painful to read because nearly everyone is making the incorrect assumption that first language acquisition = learning a second, foreign language.