How do you learn your language?

Answer 1

Sociologists would say you are "socialized" into language, that is, you learn it from your parents, your peers, your culture, your social group. In the documentary "Babies," for example, the film-maker takes viewers to four distant locations (Africa, Mongolia, Japan, United States), and in all of them, the infants pick up language from what others around them are speaking. They learn first by listening and then, by imitating. Parents help this process by repeating certain common sounds and words to their baby, rewarding the little one for recognizing those sounds and later for being able to repeat them.

At first, infants are mainly able to communicate by crying. But within several months, they seem able to recognize familiar voices, and as the months pass, they learn to make certain babbling noises that sound like they are trying to talk. They also learn to identify the most common sounds they hear and understand that those sounds mean something. And as they grow, babies become able to say those sounds at appropriate times, learning words that their particular language uses to say "mama" or "water" or "toy" or whatever else.

Answer 2

I learn language through exposure to written and spoken forms, practice, studying grammar rules, and engaging in conversations with native speakers. Consistent immersion in the language and using it in real-life situations helps improve comprehension and fluency.