'I'm Willing To Fight For It': Learning A Second Language As An Adult

Published: June 16, 2021, 4:30 a.m.

Becoming fluent in a second language is difficult. But for adults, is it impossible? Short Wave hosts Maddie Sofia and Emily Kwong dissect the "critical period hypothesis," a theory which linguists have been debating for decades \u2014 with the help of Sarah Frances Phillips, a Ph.D. student in the linguistics department at New York University.

You can watch a related video about Emily learning Mandarin here. It's part of the Where We Come From series.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy