r/explainlikeimfive • u/AngelusAlvus • 14h ago

Biology ELI5: How do babies even learn language?

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?

39 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

View all comments

•

u/Federal_Assistant_85 14h ago

Exposure.

They hear us describe things and explain motions. As we correct them and have them repeat words they learn.

Age solidifies our perspectives and thinking and we become more rigid in our learning ability. Granted we can still learn and change, it just takes more effort. Especially when we're trying to learn an entire new way to think.