While the best time to learn a language is in one’s youth, Chris Lonsdale, author of the language learning book ‘The Third Ear’ argues that in fact, adults learn quicker than children on an hour-for-hour basis.
Children however learn to ‘fit in’ with their peers, and therefore MIMIC their counterparts to ‘be part of the gang’. In this way children develop a perfect accent, particularly if they learn a language prior to passing puberty.
One lesson here is that adults can better learn a language by mimicing their foreign colleagues if they are trying to learn a foreign language. They need to try and ‘become’ that person, or a person of that culture.
Children introduced to a new environment also are often ‘involved’ witeh the language, and subconsciously learn the rules in context particularly if in a total immersion situation. During play they see, act out and feel the language in its natural context and environment.
One language training organization says that you can actually develop your own simulated language immersion program which basically involves you listening to radio, watching TV, movies, videos and DVD’s in the target language that you might be learning.
By watching foreign movies in particular you see the words, phrases and expressions of your target language, being used in real live conversation, and being acted out in context.