ari@kolmogorov.physics.uiuc.edu (08/15/89)
>In article <4552@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee) writes: >> From article <3800@csd4.milw.wisc.edu>, by markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark William Hopkins): >> \ How fast can a human being master the basic essentials of a human language? >> About 4 years of relatively single-minded effort. >> \... I believe that it is possible to accquire ..., and basic syntax in 1 day. >> Wow. How did you get it so wrong? I wonder what you mean by "basic >> essentials". How to name? How to predicate? Modify? Quantify? > >Think of a child transplanted at, oh, the age of eight to a foreign >country with his/her family. Friends of mine have seen their children >become relatively "fluent" after about six months. For children who have >relatively few inhibitions and a normal childish curiosity this is >probably par for the course. > This is only after the child understands the nature of communications, symbols, concepts, things....All natural elements (or at least precursors) of human language. Human language is in some part an externalization of how we think. And we all must learn think (even now!). ari