
First language influences brain for later language-learning - DrScump
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/first-language-wires-brain-later-language-learning-257068
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panglott
Terrible headline.

They found that Chinese children who were adopted into French-speaking
families processed language in the brain more like Chinese/French bilingual
children than like French monolingual children.

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surement
Additionally, apart from Pimsleur, language courses are structured very
differently from how one first learns to speak.

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GolDDranks
Pimsleur is a child of it's age; a so-called audio-lingual method that has its
roots in Skinnerian behaviorism. I think no language acquisition researcher
takes it seriously any more. Check This out for a modern viewpoint:
[https://youtu.be/X1LRoKQzb9U](https://youtu.be/X1LRoKQzb9U)

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surement
I see what you mean, but I've learned several languages using Pimsleur and
native speakers are almost always shocked at how well I can speak their
language.

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ksenzee
That's still n=1. It might just be that you're particularly good at language
acquisition, and you'll succeed no matter what method you use.

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dragonwriter
Or just particularly receptive to the method: _X_ is the best method _for me_
to learn a language is a very different proposition than _X_ is the best
method _for people in general_ to learn a language.

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surement
> Or just particularly receptive to the method

If this is true, then my anecdotal experience is still evidence against this:

> I think no language acquisition researcher takes it seriously any more

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dragonwriter
Actually, "X works particularly well compared to other methods for one person"
(even if demonstrated -- which your experience does not do, though it is one
of many possible interpretations of that experience) is not evidence against
"No language acquisition researcher takes X seriously".

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surement
you originally said

> X is the best method _for me_ to learn a language

if this statement is true, then it is evidence that researchers should not
dismiss it.

This:

> X works particularly well compared to other methods for one person

is not the same statement.

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Maultasche
I wonder if the children who had forgotten their original first language would
learn it again more easily than the children who had never learned the
language at all.

That would be an interesting study.

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jypepin
That reminds me of some research I read a few years ago about savings habits
for people speaking a language that has a time concept (passed, present,
future) and languages that don't (chinese for example).

There was a pretty explicit separation on people having no time concepts
saving more and putting more importance in the future, or something like that.
It was pretty interesting to read how the way your language works shapes how
your brain thinks and influences your habits.

edit:
[https://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_aff...](https://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affect_your_ability_to_save_money?language=en)
:)

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nickpeterson
I'd be curious to know what else this sort of thing shapes. Reminds me a bit
of Ken Iverson's 'Notation as a Tool of Thought.' Programmers often talk about
how learning different programming langauges improves their ability to
conceptualize problems differently. I wonder if the same is true for
spoken/written langauges?

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vanderZwan
Since there is other research indicating that bilingual children on average
have a slightly higher IQ, most likely due to the brain being trained to
compartmentalise information earlier, I wonder if that effect is notable in
these former bilingual children too.

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gd2
I thought those studies concerned more that the bi-lingual children had an
extra flexibility at understanding a concept, rather than a more developed
compartmentalization process.

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vanderZwan
You may be right, I said this from memory. Maybe we're talking about the same
thing from a different perspective though? My recollection was that it had to
do with the need to switch between languages.

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gd2
I'd like to see this developed for relearning language after a stroke.

Have a friend whose first language was Spanish, but lived her life in the
English speaking world and had limited Spanish skills as an adult After a
serious stroke, she initially couldn't speak, but recovered ability in Spanish
first. The court and language therapist marked down her communication skills
because they were so English-centric. Caused a sad story.

