Editing Foreign language (section)

{{For|possible languages of extra-terrestrials|Alien language}}
{{Short description|Language not native to a specific country}}

A '''foreign language''' is a [[language]] that is not an [[official language]] of, nor typically spoken in, a specific [[country]]. [[Native speakers]] from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious [[learning]], such as through language lessons at school, [[self-teaching]], or attending language courses. A foreign language might be learned as a [[second language]]; however, there is a distinction between the two terms. A second language refers to a language that plays a significant role in the region where the speaker lives{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}, whether for communication, education, business, or governance. Consequently, a second language is not necessarily a foreign language.

Children who learn more than one language from birth or at a very young age are considered [[Multilingualism|bilingual]] or [[multilingualism|multilingual]]. These children can be said to have two, three, or more mother tongues, meaning these languages would not be considered foreign to them, even if one language is a foreign language for the majority of people in the child's birth country. For instance, a child learning English from their [[England|English]] parent and Irish at school in Ireland can speak both English and Irish, but neither is a foreign language for them. This situation is common in countries like [[India]], [[South Africa]], or [[Canada]], which have multiple official languages.

In general, it is believed that children have an advantage in learning foreign languages compared to adults. However, studies have shown that pre-existing knowledge of language and grammar rules, as well as a superior ability to memorize vocabulary, may benefit adults when learning foreign languages.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Merritt |first1=Anne |date=2013-09-18 |title=Merritt, Anne. "Are Children Really Better at Foreign Language Learning?" |work=[[Telegraph.co.uk]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10315238/Are-children-really-better-at-foreign-language-learning.html |url-status=live |access-date=2016-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511000800/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10315238/Are-children-really-better-at-foreign-language-learning.html |archive-date=2016-05-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Service |first1=Elisabet |last2=Yli-Kaitala |first2=Hely |last3=Maury |first3=Sini |last4=Kim |first4=Jeong-Young |date=2014-04-26 |title=Adults' and 8-Year-Olds' Learning in a Foreign Word Repetition Task: Similar and Different: Adults' and Children's Foreign Word Repetition |url=https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/23532/1/Service%20et%20al%2c%202014%2c%20Language%20Learning.pdf |journal=Language Learning |language=en |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=215–246 |doi=10.1111/lang.12051 |hdl=11375/23532 |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=MacSphere - McMaster University Libraries Institutional Repository}}</ref>