Adult vs. Child.
Which one is better at learning foreign languages?
The child, of course.
The average American knows 10,000 word families at age 8 while the average adult Vitamin V reader knows only 4,082.
But it’s not really a fair comparison.
Children and adults have different schedules, goals and abilities.
What good does it to wish you were a child again when you’re not?
It doesn’t.
That’s why this week, and maybe next, we’re focusing on the advantages adults have that children do not.
Advantage #1 — You’re In Control
Adults have a choice. You can search and find the best methods, the fastest methods, and the most effective methods according to the latest scientific research.
Children can’t do that.
They go to school. They find their classroom. They sit down. And they learn according to whatever method the teacher chooses to use.
Sometimes the teacher is good and makes it fun.
But usually the kids are simply victims.
The teacher likes grammar rules.
The teacher is an expert at grammar rules.
And the teacher teaches grammar rules.
Lots of them.
Ugh.
But you, my adult reader, you can find better methods.
You can choose to learn grammar according to the discoveries from the 1983 Singapore Experiment. According to this experiment, you learn to speak correct English by reading, not by studying rules. (But it must be the right kind of reading.)
You can learn choose to new words and remember them 55% better using the Picture Superiority Effect. According to a strange ability that’s stronger in an adult’s brain, you remember 65% of pictures after three days but only 10% of words. The trick is to connect the picture to the word.
And you can choose to use the Subtitle Technique to improve your understanding of fast-talking native speakers (Just make sure you don’t use the wrong kind of subtitles or your English will get worse, not better.)
All, by the way, you will learn and use when you become a member of The Society.