迷思六，如果你不是从小学习外语，你永不会熟练掌握其语法

本文英语原文节选自 antimoon，略有删改并增加中文译文 Myth #6: "If you didn't learn a foreign language as a child, you will never be fully proficient in its grammar"

This is a more general version of the “foreign accent” myth described in the previous article in the series. It has its roots in the Critical Period Hypothesis proposed by Eric Lenneberg in 1967.

Lenneberg suggested that one’s first language must be acquired before puberty (about 12 years of age). After puberty, he claimed, neurological changes in the brain make it impossible to fully learn a language. To support his hypothesis, Lenneberg pointed to examples of children who were kept in isolation from others and had no contact with their first language until after puberty. Such children kept making basic grammar mistakes, no matter how long they tried to learn the language.

这是前一个迷思「外国口音」的更一般版本。这迷思源自Eric Lenneberg在1967年提出的关键期假设。

Lenneberg主张一个人的第一语言，必须在发育期前（约12岁）学会。他称到了发育期后，大脑的神经系统转变，使人不可能完全学会语言。為了支持他的假设，他举了一个例子：有些儿童一直与外界隔绝、直到发育期后才接触第一语言。这些儿童持续犯基本语法错误，无论他们花多长时间尝试学习语言。

The Critical Period Hypothesis has been generalized to refer to second/foreign language acquisition, leading to statements such as: “If you don’t acquire a second/foreign language before puberty, you will always have problems with some parts of grammar” This causes language learners to interpret their flaws as a neurological necessity and discourages them from trying to improve.

关键期假设后来推广到第二／外国语言学习，於是產生出像「如你不在发育期前学会第二／外国语言，你会一直对语法某些部份有问题」等言论。这种言论，使学外语者把种种的缺陷，解释為神经系统的必然结果，因而使他们不去尝试改善。

事实Fact

Grammar proficiency has more to do with how much input you get than how early you begin learning.

Take my example: I was born in Poland and started attending English classes at 6. Despite my young age (which, in theory, should have allowed me to learn very quickly), I didn’t manage to acquire the language. After 9 years of attending classes my knowledge of grammar was extremely limited and I would always make tons of grammar mistakes. Finally, at 15, I started taking English seriously — reading books, using spaced-repetition software, using dictionaries, etc.

语法有多熟练，与你获得多少输入的关係，大於你从多年幼起步。

以我為例：我生於波兰，6岁起上英语课。虽然我很年幼就开始（理论上，年幼应容许我学得很快），我从未掌握英语。上了9年的课后，我的语法知识仍极為有限，我仍经常犯上极多错误。最后，到我15岁，开始认真学习英语——看书、用SuperMemo、用字典等。

根据眾多语言学家所言，我当时已经过了关键期，但你想像到吗——我开始有出奇的进步。我学得比我小时候快。在两三年间，我学会近乎母语水準的语法、发音、和词汇。

According to many linguists, I was already past my critical period, but guess what — I started making fantastic progress. I was learning faster than I had ever learned as a child. In 2-3 years, I managed to master native-like grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.

Today, my English is nearly as good as a native speaker’s. My writing is natural and basically flawless. After a few days of speaking practice, my accent becomes indistinguishable from that of an American native speaker. When I went to California this spring, I met some people who couldn’t believe I hadn’t been born in America until I showed them my Polish passport.

今天我的英语已经差不多像母语者一样好。我的写作自然并且基本无误。在练说几天后，我的口音已和美国母语者的口音无从分辨。这个春天我到加州，遇到的一些人，都无法相信我不是美国土生土长，直到我给他们看我的波兰护照。

I occasionally make mistakes (I’m almost always aware of them), but it doesn’t bother me, because I have reasons to believe they would quickly disappear if I spoke English on an everyday basis.

I am 25 years old and I’m sure I could master another European language just like I mastered English. (I’m not sure about Chinese and other non-European languages.) Based on my experience, I certainly don’t think I would be “too old” to absorb any part of French or German grammar.

我有时会犯错（我几乎每次都留意到），但这不困扰我，因為我有理由相信，只要我天天说英语，错误很快会消失。

我现在25岁，我肯定自己还可以掌握另一个欧洲语言，就像我掌握英语一样。（我对中文或其他非欧洲语言不敢肯定。）以我的经验，我绝对不认為自己「太老」而吸收不了法语或德语语法的任何部份。