A child's first language, or mother tongue, is the primary language they learn from birth through exposure and interaction with parents and caregivers, developing naturally and intuitively within the first few years, forming the foundation for communication, thought, and cultural identity. It's acquired subconsciously, unlike conscious second language learning, through activities like cooing, babbling, and imitating sounds, progressing from first words (around age 1) to simple sentences (by ages 2-3).
First language (L1), also known as mother tongue (MT), is the language a person acquires at a very young age. It is the language acquired from birth and also the first language from which a person obtains their ability to communicate—a medium of communication.
The first language is the language a child was exposed to in their early years i.e mother tongue. The DfE recommends that schools should record the language which was communicated with the child until s/he is one year old as the child's first language. Home language is the language the child now speaks at home.
Language acquisition is gained through lots of interactions such as talking, singing, playing games, going to new places, meeting other people, reading, imaginative play, and having fun!
The first language, also referred to as the mother tongue or home language, is the first language spoken at home in a child's early years and before they begin school. The first language is not learned through school or as an adult but from childhood exposure and communication in the home.
A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period.
Children usually say their first word at around 12 months old. For some kids it may be a little earlier, and for others it's a little later. By 18 to 24 months, your toddler should have at least 5 to 10 words that they use regularly.
There's no single "number one" easiest language, as it depends on your native tongue, but for English speakers, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans, Spanish, and Italian are consistently ranked as very easy due to similar Germanic roots (Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans) or shared Latin vocabulary (Spanish, Italian) with English, plus simple grammar and pronunciation. The truly easiest language is the one you're most motivated to learn and find engaging content in, as personal interest drives acquisition.
The 15-30-15 method is a popular language learning strategy that breaks one hour of daily study into three focused, spaced sessions: 15 minutes of morning review, 30 minutes of core learning at midday, and 15 minutes of evening review, helping prevent burnout and improve retention through consistent, manageable chunks. This approach, popularized by polyglots like Alex Rawlings, focuses on consistency and active learning across the day, making it effective for long-term language acquisition.
The Five Stages of Acquisition, according to the Ferengi, were infatuation, justification, appropriation, obsession, and resale.
Definition. Mother tongue refers to the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person at the time the data was collected. If the person no longer understands the first language learned, the mother tongue is the second language learned.
There's no single "hardest" language, but Mandarin Chinese is consistently ranked #1 for English speakers due to its tonal nature (four tones change word meanings) and complex logographic writing system requiring thousands of characters. Other top contenders often cited include Arabic (right-to-left script, complex sounds, grammar) and Japanese (multiple writing systems like Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, plus honorifics). The difficulty depends heavily on your native language, with languages like Tibetan, Estonian, and Polish also challenging learners with unique grammar or cases.
There is an entire subfield of linguistics that studies language attrition. It's definitely possible to forget your first language if you stop speaking it in your childhood. For adults who emigrate, there is a certain amount of attrition as well as changes due to influences from the dominant language.
What is the theory behind language shaping thought? In more technical terms, the idea many linguists advocate for is that differences between the structures of different languages shape how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world. Specifically, it was Benjamin Lee Whorf who first claimed this in 1940.
English is not her first language.
The inscription translates to: “He has united the Two Lands for his son, Dual King Peribsen,” and it is considered the earliest-known complete sentence. Historians and linguists generally agree that Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian are the oldest languages with a clear written record.
The 7-8-9 rule is a simple framework to help you balance your day. It suggests that you should set aside 7 hours each day for work or study and 8 hours for sleep, which leaves you with 9 hours of personal time.
Using spaced repetitions, or the 2 3 5 7 method, to plan your revision sessions
Consequently, the impact of various languages has transformed English into a distinctive blend of Germanic and Romance tongues. Dutch, Frisian, and German stand as the nearest kin to English, with Frisian holding the strongest resemblance.
Generally speaking, Japanese is more difficult than Chinese when it comes to grammar. Mandarin Chinese is an analytical language, like English, and each word has only one form, no matter how it's being used in a sentence. It's also a subject-verb-object language, like English.
English is the number one international language (lingua franca), boasting around 1.5 billion total speakers, making it dominant in global business, technology, and tourism, even though Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers. While Mandarin is the largest by native speakers, English's vast number of second-language users cements its role as the primary global communication tool, followed by Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish in overall speaker numbers.
According to research, babies who experience language development earlier than average grow up to have higher IQ levels. This is mostly noticeable during adulthood. That being said, language delay is also the most common developmental delay experienced by children under the age of 3.
If your child consistently struggles to understand what you're saying, it might be a red flag. Speech Difficulties: If your child's speech is unclear or difficult to understand by age 3, it could be a sign of a speech delay.
What counts as a first word? Officially, your baby's word is recognizable, used in context, spoken independently, and used more than once. Speech and language experts break this down further by explaining that word approximations like 'ba' for 'bottle,' animal sounds, and words like 'uh-oh' count too.