pdf23ds comments on Don't Think Too Hard. - Less Wrong

9 Post author: hegemonicon 05 October 2009 03:51AM

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Comment author: pdf23ds 05 October 2009 06:19:53PM 0 points [-]

That's an unfair comparison.

Well, it might be unfair in some contexts, but the point was that since children don't learn their first language faster than adults learn their second, we can't really draw any conclusions from language learning about the overall speed of learning of children.

Comment author: DanArmak 05 October 2009 06:28:04PM 0 points [-]

If we knew whether older children learn their second language faster than adults, then we might draw conclusions.

Comment author: wedrifid 05 October 2009 06:44:28PM 2 points [-]

We know that. (They don't. But earlier exposure to a second language does predict that they will continue to higher levels of proficiency.)

Comment author: DanArmak 05 October 2009 07:30:16PM 0 points [-]

That's very enlightening, thanks. Then the case of Russian immigrants in Israel may indeed be due to insufficient pressure to learn and other factors.