About Annette Revel Sheely, M.A. Expertise Counseling, giftedness, gifted children and adults, high intelligence, high IQs. Various types of IQ tests. The social and emotional needs of gifted people. Special issues for gifted girls. Friendships among gifted children. I have a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and several years of experience counseling. For the past three years, I have worked exclusively with the gifted (IQ over 130, some in the 180s and 190s) and I write and speak about gifted children frequently. I have presented research about the assessment of the highly gifted at a conference at M.I.T. I am on the staff of the Gifted Development Center, an internationally known resource center for gifted people of all ages.
Question Hi, I wanted to know why is it that children can learn different languages better at a young age?
Answer hi Maria : )
Well, I'm not really an expert in this field but I will tell you what I've read. You're very right- young children are much better at learning new languages than adults are. It seems that there are parts of the brain that have to do with learning language that are more "plastic" or open to change/ growth/ learning at a young age (like before 5 years old) than in adults. They don't understand exactly why that is other than the fact that it's critical that a child learn the languages around them fast so that they can communicate to survive, but learning a foreign language as an adult isn't as necessary for survival. That's just a theory- they don't really understand exactly why it is the way it is.
Well, best wishes,
Annette Sheely
Gifted Development Center
Denver
