新奇事件簿 几岁是学习一门新语言最佳年龄

New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests that if people want to achieve native-like proficiency¹ in a new language, they should start learning that language before the age of ten. The researchers added that children up to the age of 17 or 18 remain adept² at learning grammar. There is bad news for those who want to pick up a new language beyond their late teens. The researchers say this is past the "critical period" when language-learning ability starts to decline. Researcher Joshua Hartshorne said: "As far as a child is concerned, it's quite easy to become bilingual....That's when you're best at learning languages. It's not really something that you can make up later."

麻省理工学院（MIT）一项新研究表明如果想像母语者一样说一口流利的外语，就应该在十岁前学习这门外语。研究人员还说道， 十七八岁的孩子仍然擅长学习语法。还有个坏消息要告诉那些想学习一门新语言的成年人。研究人员说，语言学习能力开始衰退时，就错过了语言学习的“关键时期”。研究员Joshua Hartshorne说道：“对于孩子而言，说两种语言相当容易... 这是学习语言的最好时期。这段时期的能力是以后无法弥补的。”

The research was based on an analysis of results from a 10-minute online grammar quiz. Over 670,000 language learners of all ages participated in the test. Researchers measured the grammatical ability of people who started learning a language at different points in their life. Professor Hartshorne focused on grammar rules that were most likely to confuse a non-native speaker as a gauge³ of that person's proficiency. MIT researcher Josh Tenenbaum suggested people simply might be too busy to learn a language later in life. He said: "After 17 or 18, you leave home, you work full time, or you become a specialized⁴ university student. All of these might impact your learning rate for any language."

该研究基于对一项十分钟在线语法测试结果的分析。所有年龄段的670000多种语言学习者参与了这个测试。研究人员对这些在不同年龄段开始学习一门语言者的语法能力进行估量。Hartshorne教授主要专注于那些很可能会迷惑非母语者的语法规则，并将这作为参与者对这门语言熟练程度的一种判定标准。MIT研究员Josh Tenenbaum表示，成年后，人们可能因为过于忙碌而没时间去学习一门语言。 他说：“十七八岁后，你离开了家，全时间投入工作，或者是成为了一名大学生。所有这些因素都可能影响任何一门语言的学习率。”

1 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

2 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。