Babble Of Baby Reveals Language Skills

Description

Children have a remarkable ability to learn new languages. As little as five hours of exposure to a second language is enough to help infants incorporate characteristics of that language into their babbling according to a new study.

Studies conducted during the last 25 years have shown that babies begin to develop the ability to understand the native language of their parents as early as 6 months old. By their first birthday, infants become especially attuned to its subtle nuances in sound -- so much so that their ability to perceive differences between foreign sounds decreases.

A few years ago, scientists showed that even a limited, short-term exposure to a second language could reverse this decline. As little as a few hours exposure to Mandarin could help a child from an English-speaking household retain the ability to distinguish English sounds from Mandarin sounds.

Many linguists have questioned whether the same effect would be true of language production, wondering if exposing infants to a second language helps them to speak by using foreign sounds.

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http://www.physorg.com/news176458764.html

http://www.physorg.com/news176458764.html