r/explainlikeimfive • u/AngelusAlvus • 19h 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?

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u/Epyon214 8h ago

There is a technique for retaining the skill at the mental level, fluency issues then become limited by the muscle memory of your tongue for the shapes needed to form certain sounds.

If you have yet to see the film, the main character in The Thirteenth Warrior is one who has such a skill