The Forbidden Experiment: Feral Children
From an Egyptian pharaoh to a Holy Roman Emperor, history is dotted with cruel attempts to discover humanity's "natural" language by raising children in silence. These "forbidden experiments", along with…
Tag: critical period hypothesis
When a Community Has No Language
Before established sign languages, how did deaf children in isolation communicate? This post explores "home sign," the remarkable gestural systems they invent from scratch. Discover how these personal languages reveal…
The Hidden Logic of Baby Babble
Is a baby's babbling just adorable, random noise? Far from it. Linguists have discovered that babbling is a highly structured practice session, where infants methodically master the sounds, rhythms, and…
The Girl Who Couldn’t Speak: Genie and the Tragic Limits of the Critical Period for Language
The tragic case of "Genie," a feral child discovered in 1970 after a decade of silent isolation, offers a harrowing look into the "critical period" for language acquisition. While she…
Why Do People Have Accents?
An accent refers to a particular way of pronouncing a language, strongly associated with geographical region, social class, or ethnic group. Accents have long been...
The Age Factor in Language Learning: Myth or Reality?
Learning a new language can be an exhilarating yet challenging task. Across different societies, a common perception exists that language learning ability is strongly correlated...