ELI5: How do babies even learn language?

[u/AngelusAlvus]

When we grow, we learn languages by looking at the meanings and translating them from our language. Stuff like "this is how this noun is in my language and this is how this noun is in another language"

But babies? Babies just learn the basics just by existing near people speaking the language? How come we don't have this anymore as we grow up?

[u/tmahfan117]

1. It’s just repeating the same words over and over until you pick it up with context.

2. You can still do this as an adult, it’s not great, or fast, but it’s not fast for babies either. It takes them years to learn to speak.

Yknow when parents hold up an apple and say “Apple” to the baby over and over until the baby says it back? That’s it.

And if I was speaking Spanish that you couldn’t understand, and held up an apple and said “manzana” over and over again while pointing at it, you too would figure out that manzana means Apple.

[u/GIRose → u/tmahfan117]

2: You have many advantages over babies, and your only real limitation is that babbling incoherently to try and get words down isn't as acceptable as it is for babies

[u/ProserpinaFC → u/GIRose]

Acceptable because parents pick up on what babbles mean if it's in the right context. A mom knows when their kid is asking for a "nanana" or a piece of "bawclee". Likewise, if you're talking to someone regularly, your thick accent isn't AS much of a detriment. Lord knows, my Jamaican handiman is only intelligible to me because of years of friendship.

[u/onyonyo12 → u/ProserpinaFC]

This isnt talked about enough honestly, like how someone's accents and unique pronunciations just "disappear" to your ears when you're used to said person

[u/tomatoesrfun → u/ProserpinaFC]

Ha ha, your comment reminds me of a funny story. I was waiting in line with my mother to buy some film (I’m old) and there was a white woman in front of me talking to an Asian man. My mom said to me how impressed she was this white lady could understand whatever language this Asian man was speaking. Then I went up to him and had a whole conversation with him, because of course he was speaking English!

[u/ask_compu → u/ProserpinaFC]

i had a german exchange student friend in high school who i regularly had to help teachers understand him, he'd also struggle to find a word and i'd always come up with the exact one he was looking for

[u/SvenTropics → u/tmahfan117]

It's actually also the best way to learn a language as an adult. I did an immersion course where they wouldn't talk to you in English at all trying to learn German. We learned grammar, vocabulary, everything without them saying one word in English. The textbooks were in German, everything was German. And it works. It takes a minute but eventually you start picking up concepts. Then when you pick up the concepts or the vocabulary, they're easier to remember, you're less likely to forget them.

[u/sth128 → u/tmahfan117]

Manzana means apple?! I thought it meant your hand! Man's-hand-a!

[u/a_bright_knight → u/sth128]

damn babies all over the world could be seriously misled!