Learning a New Language? Try Listening Like a Baby for Faster Results

Learning a new language later in life can be frustrating. However, new research suggests that adopting the tactics of a baby can make the process much easier. Adults often start by learning words, often on paper, and try to pronounce them before understanding the language's overall sounds. Babies, on the other hand, begin language acquisition in the womb, listening to the rhythm and melody of voices. A study involving 174 Czech adults listening to Maori, a language they had never heard, showed that adults can quickly pick up melodic and rhythmic patterns. This indicates that mechanisms for native language acquisition remain intact in the adult brain. Participants distinguished between Maori and Malay even when the audio was filtered to mimic sounds heard in the womb, preserving melody and rhythm but removing specific vowel and consonant information. Interestingly, participants who simply listened to Maori performed better than those who listened while reading subtitles. Reading alphabetical spelling hindered their sensitivity to the language's melody and rhythm, leading to lower test scores. The research suggests that spelling can interfere with our natural ability to listen to the melody and rhythm of speech. Experts seeking to improve language acquisition in adults should consider the potential negative impact of early exposure to alphabetical spelling. Previous studies indicate that the sensitive period for acquiring language sound patterns ends around age six, when many children learn to read. Starting with general speech features like melody and rhythm serves as a springboard to other language levels. Therefore, a reverse approach, starting with written forms, may hinder adults' sensitivity to melody and rhythm. This impacts their ability to understand and produce language fluently, affecting other linguistic competencies like grammar and vocabulary. Listening without reading letters helps us absorb the entire flow of a language, like young children do. The study suggests that adults learning a language may benefit from a more auditory-focused approach, prioritizing spoken language before reading and writing. The implications for language education are significant. Traditional methods emphasize reading and writing early on. However, students might achieve faster oral proficiency with a more listening-focused approach.