In the article, Language Acquisition from Wikipedia, it was interesting reading the competing views of nativists who believe that humans have an innate ability to acquire language while the anti-nativists believe that social interaction of children and the adults around them play an important role in children acquiring language skills.
My View
I believe that all humans babies have an innate ability to acquire language skills but those skills have to be nurtured and encouraged. Very young children who are nurtured, talked to, held and cared for have a better chance of acquiring language skills that will enable them to communicate and succeed in society. Children should be read aloud to. Songs, poems and story-telling time are important and make up an enjoyable part of childhood. Those of us who were fortunate to have parents and teachers who read to us when we were very young still remember stories and songs from our childhood. All of those efforts of the adults around us contributed to our acquiring language skills.
Ciara O'Riodan's Language Learning Site
In this article, the author expressed how difficult it was for her to learn a second language. It is not impossible to learn a second language but it is not as easy as it was when you were a child. There are now tapes, DVDs as wells as computer softwares that can assist anyone who wants to learn a second language. I had an uncle who learned to speak four different languages.
I also read that Pope John Paul II spoke several different languages very well. I am not sure why some adults can acquire second languages very quickly while others struggle so much. One of my long-term goals is to speak French fluently. Hopefully, I will be able to acquire it as easily as my uncle did.
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