Kids Secret Superpower
I’ve always wondered why do kids learn things so easily and fast,
but adults seem not to be able to do so.
Research told for example that the ability to learn a foreign language decline precipitously after the age of 18. And if you want to be fluent at a native level you have to start before the age of 10.
But then we have all these crazy stories of people learning very difficult languages such as Chinese, Russian, Arabic at 30-40 even 50 at times.
And I’ve read countless other similar stories regarding other skills.
Why is that?
After some thought, I’ve finally cracked the egg.
A few years back, I worked as an interpreter for a company. We helped immigrant Chinese kids that don’t speak Italian to enroll in school.
The pay was almost none, but It was very fulfilling. I helped them as I wish someone had helped me when I first arrived.
By observing the kids, I finally understood why they learn so fast.
Italian is a very difficult language to learn for Chinese native speakers because of the distance between the two and culture.
But the kids were very smart and very respectful towards the teacher (me) as deeply ingrained in the Chinese culture. They followed all my instructions and very soon we were seeing great results.
I saw first hand how they made every sound possible before sniping in on the correct pronunciation, without shame or any second thought about it.
At home, they would watch Italian Tv even though they couldn’t understand a thing at first.
Their whole little world was set around Italian.
So why don’t adults do the same?
Sure part of it, it’s due to aging and the deterioration of our mental capabilities, but that’s a minor factor.
Most of it is definitely cultural and has more to do with our lifestyle and Ego.
Growing up we prase kids on the results of their tests/competition, without complimenting them on the actual effort the put into the activity.
So as grown-ups we instinctively develop an aversion towards making mistakes, which is key to learning.
There is nothing to be learned from winning, besides what you already knew.
But there is definitely a heck of a lot from failures.
Just think about when you failed an exam and by reviewing it you thought:
“oh if I just did this I would have succeeded!”
Another factor is the people surrounding us.
Not everybody is supportive and it really hurts when someone you care for or family member makes fun of you.
This drives many to quit what they are trying to learn or never begin with it.
The truth is that these people are subconsciously afraid that you can actually do it.
It justifies their sitting on the couch at night and watch tv the whole time and not doing anything productive.
So don’t listen to them.
Or analyze what they have to say. If they come from a place of hate or they are actually making some good points and then come up with a strategy.
The third and final factor is our lifestyle.
Unfortunately, we are not as free as kids.
We have bills to pay, Jobs and countless other responsibilities.
But we can also learn more efficiently, by choosing the right sources and managing our time better.
So this is when we have to put on our big boy pants and just get on with it.
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