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Article: Children everywhere possess a natural, almost magical ability to acquire language.
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- February 21, 1996
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ET, the well-known Extra-Terrestrial, learnt human language
fast: "His ear-flap opened and he listened intently. . . . His . .
. circuits buzzed, assimilating, synthesising. . . . Thus inspired,
the language centre of his marvellous brain came fully on. . . ."
Yet ET's magical ability is almost matched by that of human
children. As the American statesman Benjamin Franklin once said:
"Teach your child to hold his tongue; he'll learn fast enough to
speak."
Children talk so readily because they instinctively know in
advance what languages are like.Language has a biologically
organised schedule. Children everywhere follow a similar pattern.
In their first few weeks, babies mostly cry. From six ...