How are languages (Chinese) learnt young?

Dr. Bonnie Bunch, a pediatric neurologist and assistant professor with the Sanford School of Medicine at USD, said learning a language breaks down to four parts. Semantics is the meaning of words. Syntax is grammatical construction. An element called prosody covers rhythm and musical quality in a speaker's inflection. Pragmatics is functional use.

A child's mind fires on all four of those cylinders. An adult trying to pick up a language, on the other hand, might have an edge in semantics but won't be as adept in the other qualities.

"Kids learn a lot of language even before they say anything," Bunch said. "A young baby hears language spoken and picks up the prosody. Then they begin to learn words. If you learn those things early in life, you have a much better chance of picking up the syntax than if you learn later in life."