Language transmission is done by the family in all cultures, and so, children acquire their mother tongue in a natural way at home. 

 

 

 

I think that they start “making noises” from the beginning. I don´t know when children start to talk exactly. I suppose that it depends on the child. 

 

 

Traditionally the thought was that each language we learn, we use it and store it apart from other languages. Cummins proposed other theory. In his opinion, the communication capacity is the same in all languages.

 

While surface capabilities we need to use in each language (correct pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar...) are separated, background capabilities are the same in all languages (connection of ideas, logic ...). So it is necessary to work the background capacity of one language, as it will be used to learn other languages.

 

That is why in infancy it is important to learn/speak the mother tongue very well, and it is also possible to learn other languages as well. Knowing more than one language does not impose any burden on the brain.

 

-       What is the process of learning a first language like?

 

Children learn the base of the mother tongue during their first five years: the sounds, basic vocabulary and grammar rules. They do that initial learning intuitively, and also, they learn to be people: an attachment to the language is created.

 

Those are the first two obligations of a language: support for thought and for communication with family. Gradually the child will have new spaces, and if the mother tongue is used in them, the child will intensify and strengthen its use. In a few years the child gets a full capacity in that language in any field.