SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING 1

Yesterday afternoon a young man interested in language learning came to me with a problem. He had read about my address this evening on some differences between first and second language learning, and he wanted to attend. On the other hand, he related he had promised to take a girl to the movies this evening. He didn't state the question bluntly but it clearly amounted to: which did I think would be more rewarding-my monologue o r a movie. I asked the young man if he had learned a second language in addition to English and he said he knew two foreign languages. "Why, then," I replied, "you can judge for yourself the differences between f i rs t and second language learning.'' "I know some things from my own experience," he answered, "but you are a psychologist and could tell me much more." "Why so?" I asked. He didn't answer, but apologized for intruding and left. I do not know if he i s here after all; perhaps he struck a compromise between his two goals and took his date to a foreign film. This student was clearly not a psychology major. A psychology major could readily answer my question: Why can a psychologist tell you more about language learning than you know from your own experience? An "A" answer on an examination might go something like this: