figuring out how to turn on brain plasticity and motivation networks, and just kill anxiety, would make life quite interesting. it's too bad that improvements in neuroscience are the absolute most insane Pandora's box, with dictatorships potentially rewiring their people's brain for compliance and whatnot, thought reading, thought implantation, all nightmarish

The article explicitly mentions (towards the end) that this is far from evidence for language learning. But such a headline makes for clicks I guess.

I think about this quite often, as 2 of my kids were born in Ireland, but grew up elsewhere (Slavic country). I speak English with them, but so do some of my friends/neighbors with their kids. The other kids would seldom speak English though, while my kids seem to default to English somehow. Btw. they left Ireland when they were 2y and 9months old (now 9 and 7), never attended daycare there, were only exposed to English at grocery stores, doctors etc. My point is, the early exposure to the language seem to make huge difference. I'm sure it's a combination of other things too but I'd say it is definitely a strong factor. [edits: grammar]

Title is adult centric. All languages are foreign. It could have said: babies learn to recognize sounds before they are born.

Maybe this is why I'm such an enjoyer of Russian bands like Aquarium and GrOb? My parents listening to them while I was in the cooker in 1996?

Nevertheless, I'm basically illiterate when it comes to writing Russian.

Yeah, this is a press F to doubt kind of situation, for many reasons: frontal cortex not developed, Broca’s and Werneke’s areas not developed, sounds not transmitting through a belly and through amniotic fluid into an undeveloped auditory canal, etc.

Easy to spot bullshit that sounds more like an April Fools post than anything else.