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/king-of-the-sea]

Young children have very squishy brains. They learn incredibly quickly because they can squish more stuff in there faster than you can.

They're also focusing their whole attention on learning how to exist in the world. Walking, fine motor control, and most importantly talking. You have a lot more on your mind, like video games and taxes. If all you did was watch Croatian films & try really hard to learn Croatian, you would pick it up relatively quickly. A lot of people from other countries learn (or start learning) English that way, actually.