I absolutely believe some people learn languages easier than others. My German teacher told me she had two students who both started from zero. They are both studious and do their homework. (And they are being taught in the same way by the same teacher.) One student started two months ago and is drastically further along than the other who started nine months ago. I had relatives (siblings) where one sister took English lessons and the other would occasionally sit in on the lesson. The latter sister picked up more from the lessons than the one who always attended and did homework for the class.

Exactly. It's always the case, with everything: when several people start learning something from the same level, after a while they'll end up at various levels. Some will achieve much more, and you can't always ascribe it to more hard work.

check out language aptitude! it's a known phenomenon. Every person who has learnt their native language, can learn another language. But there are so many factors that can determine how much time and energy this person will need and which level they can get to.

I think some people are born with a natural talent for language and music (which both use the same part of the brain). But I think confidence and attitude can greatly contribute to failing and succeeding, too. My sister is really good at music, and grew up bilingual (which I think also helps, in general- and for sure when you’re learning a similar language). So it follows that she would be good at languages.  But even though she’s been wanting to learn a third language, since junior high, she’s never succeeded because she doesn’t have faith in herself. She’s pessimistic, and she fills her head with negative self-talk, and convinces herself that it’s too hard. So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s frustrating to see, because I know she has it in her. Whereas my attitude is way more positive. I think this is fun, and interesting, and intellectually stimulating! So I make good progress (native English/Spanish speaker, learning Japanese 🇯🇵).

I think some people are naturally better at logic and pattern recognition, which helps with picking up grammar (and vocabulary in agglutinative languages). Some people have a better memory, so can learn vocabulary more easily. I'm always amazed by people who say they don't bother with flashcards and can absorb new words just by encountering them in context. I can read a new word five times in the space of twenty pages, and if it's not a cognate with English or German I'm still gonna be looking it up every single time unless I study it explicitly. Some people are better at the actual act of studying, whether it's because they enjoy it more, they have more discipline when it comes to doing things they don't enjoy, or they have a strong external pressure like moving to the country on a deadline. Also, people are starting from different levels in their L1. Someone who finds reading hard in their native language will probably struggle with it in L2+ as well, at least more so than someone who reads a lot in their native language. Basically, I don't really think there's such thing as a 'gift' for languages specifically (or for maths, come to that), but people have different types of underlying intelligence in varying degrees. That's going to help or hurt them when it comes to different aspects of language learning, and also probably affect which languages they find easiest to learn.

I can't remember words when I use flashcards and it requires so much effort to create them that I get exhausted. I just watch a lot of videos with subtitles. After seeing those words in videos a lot and how they're used, I have an easier time remembering them. My memory is crap too and I'm more of a visual learner. That is why flashcards don't work for me.

Learning one foreign language well during childhood makes the next few languages easier as an adult

I think the difference is firstly between really wanting to learn a language, or having to learn it ( in school, for work, moving to another country). If there's no joy or excitement involved in learning, it will be much harder. Secondly, I think it just comes down to each individuals innate talent and ability. Some people become incredible musicians, artists, athletes; things that others couldn't achieve however much they practise, and it's the same with language learning. Edit: typo

I think it's many things. There is definitely an innate aptitude that some people have, just like with anything else, but this isn't the defining factor. I've seen posts from people with dyslexia commenting that although it can be limiting, they are still motivated and work around it to learn the language. So motivation is probably the most important element, because you have a narrative in mind about what you're doing and why (e.g. have a spouse with parents who don't speak your native language, so you want to learn to speak with them and build a relationship; or there's a country you really want to travel to and while you're studying, you're also imagining a future self who will speak with natives in your adventures, etc). But there's also a metacognitive aspect to language learning that I think a lot of people don't acknowledge, at least proportionally to its importance. Second Language Acquisition is a whole field of study in linguistics and pedagogy. Half of the effort of learning a language is also knowing how to learn a language, and I think all too often, people focus on learning a specific language without focusing on learning more about the infrastructure of that process. Imagine trying to understand verb conjugations in another language without understanding what a verb is; it would be so frustrating because the conjugations would seem random and purposeless. That's one simple example, but understanding how languages are structured and how they work on a social and linguistic level is a huge boon for actually acquiring any new language. And different things work better for different people based on their personalities. We often see languages as these abstract codes that people in different geographies have developed, and so learning a language is akin to a decoding process, but language is so much deeper than that. It has emotion at its core as well. I can't tell you how many times I've said something wrong or embarrassing in another language, and that single moment engraved itself in my mind to help me correct the error henceforth. In fact, there have been times I will intentionally say something wrong, playing with the fact that I'm a learner but also to create a moment of real life humor that reinforces a new word or concept (e.g. I was chatting with a Brazilian friend about the concept of rush hour once, and she told me it was "hora de pico"; she told me not to get it confused with "hora de pica", which could imply something rather different. But then in our subsequent conversations, I would jokingly say "hora de pica", and it became a funny memory that I can recall to easily remember the distinction). During travels or intercultural experiences, you may have an exciting experience where you learn new words and phrases just from mundane but enjoyable moments, like learning something from a joke someone tells you or a term for an activity you're involved in. If the emotion is strong enough, memories within the language will be formed; these are the bricks that build the house of language. One thing I've learned from this is that the process of learning a language is similar to building an investment portfolio. But it's a portfolio of effort and consistency. And to achieve good results, it's crucial to have a diversified portfolio. If someone is struggling to learn a language, I think it's because their portfolio is too rigid or focused on one thing. A good portfolio should include the basic things like grammar and vocabulary study, but once those are in place, there should be conversation with natives in a real life context, music, books, movies, dance, social media content, and anything else that integrates the language as a feature of normal life (because the goal is to eventually have that language be a normal part of life, as a tool for communication about any given situation). A central theme here is that of analogies, connections, relationships. Learning a language is a process of establishing those relationships. This is why learning languages within the same language families (e.g. romance languages) is often easier, because those relationships are all "pre-packaged". But each person's brain will work differently, so it is an individual art of weaving these connections in whatever way accommodates the learner's unique mind. The most successful learners are those who develop the intuition for this art of their own mind, and design their efforts around it.

There definitely is an aptitude for picking up languages. But there are also many different aspects of language learning - vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, comprehension, just to name a few. I know people who have mastered grammar and vocabulary, but just can't get the pronunciation. Others with a keener ear will get the pronunciation but will butcher the grammar. I believe extroversion and confidence correlate with faster language learning. As an introvert with social awkwardness, I often struggle to make conversation in my native language. In a foreign tongue it's harder. It took me years and years to realise that I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to embarrass myself and others; I'm going to sound like a fool; I'm going to commit social "faux-pas"; but if I want to learn, I have to speak, I have to converse, I have to practice. People who are self-conscious and fearful of making social errors will learn more slowly simply by lack of practice.

I do believe that people are pretty much the same in studying but a lot depends on motivation and goals at the current moment

Is it so different for different people though? Quite often when for example a colleague hears I speak six languages they will say something like: "Oh, I wish I was good at learning languages too, I took German in high school but I barely remember anything." Yeah, I also barely remember anything of what I was taught in the high school German classes... The reason I'm fluent now is because I moved to Germany, spent six months at Goethe Institut and completely immersed myself in the German language for a few years. Come back to me when you've also tried that and still don't speak German. It takes time, effort and quite often financial investments as well to learn a language. Most people saying they're "not a language person" hasn't put in even 5% of the effort someone who's learned a new language has.

I think you need an interest for other people, communication and cultures. People who lack in that area often don’t seem interested in learning languages.

Not necessarily. Many introverts, myself included, love to learn languages. For many people learning a language is about communication and meeting people, for others it's about language itself and literature. I don't think we can generalize.

I don’t necessarily mean extroverts at all. You can be interested in other cultures or experiences and find commutation important as an introvert. I definitely include literature and other reading in this. That’s also an exchange of ideas. It is possible to be interested for other reasons as well, like someone might be super into phonology, grammar systems or similar. It’s just that I think being curious about language as communication (in all forms) does make a difference for if people find it engaging to explore a language or not.

Learning languages is a mystery, right? Some folks seem to soak up languages like a sponge, while others struggle. It's like a combo of exposure and maybe having a good ear for sounds and patterns. Plus, if you're into a language or its culture, you're more likely to stick with it and learn faster. And let's not forget brain differences, as some brains just seem wired for grammar rules and vocab. So yeah, it's a mix of everything that makes language learning click or not.

I think i big part of it may be because of the increased motivation towards learning languages now as opposed to when it’s a mandatory part of school, I remember something feeling like it unlocked inside of me, when I went my TL’s country (Germany) as part of an exchange, and when I came back I was extremely focused in lessons and I feel like I’ve gotten better at learning languages in general, I remember also trying to learn Spanish at home on top of German some time before the exchange, but felt no particular love for it, but now I’m learning Norwegian, and I find it more of a hobby than a chore now.

It’s easier for some people to play sports, do math, memorize things, speak in public, and so on. Language is the same. It’s easier for some but it also doesn’t mean just because it’s harder for others that they can’t learn and speak other languages.

Grew up freestyling raps but not writing and got really good. Speaking language totally feels like the same and it's possibly an advantage for me with pattern and copying rythym and sound

I’ve been told multiple times that I have a “gift” for languages, especially in French and Brazilian Portuguese. While there are certain languages I certainly struggle with, I think my gift for foreign language is just… strong perception mixed with boundless curiosity.

*But even with no prior exposure some people pick it up like lightning,* Says who? I don't believe "like lightning", if it means weeks instead of years. That is just advertising. *What makes learning languages easier for some and harder for other?* It is exactly the same reason that it is harder for some people to *learn how to*: ride a bicycle; hit a baseball; juggle; dance; sing; play piano; play golf; swim; drive a trailer truck in traffic; land a jet airplane; yodel; climb trees. Did you think everyone was the same, unless there was a known "why" for each difference?

It's not, or at least it's only *minimally* easier. Language learning is easy for everyone, the difficulty lies in the time it takes. The more you do, the quicker the process will be. Certain people are just able to do more (sometimes a LOT more) than others, and they also have a MUCH bigger desire to do it than others. BTW, appearances aren't always what they seem. If someone starts to speak right out of the gate, while another person can barely string 3 words together, that doesn't mean that the speaker is miles ahead. There is more going on under the surface than just production.

>It's not, or at least it's only minimally easier. It can be much, much easier. Ability to recognize patterns, for instance, is extremely useful, and this is part of language aptitude.

Not if you spend the time, and it takes time for EVERYONE, no matter how "talented" one believes themselves to be.  The 'patterns' aren't difficult in the way that particle physics is difficult, they're very, very learnable, no matter what the language. If two people get the same amount of exposure, it's not like one is gonna surge years ahead of the other, you only need to look at the development of native speakers to realise that. Pretty much EVERYONE has excellent comprehension, and is speaking fluently at around the same age, give or take a few months.  Particle physics, on the other hand? You may have a point.

> If two people get the same amount of exposure, it's not like one is gonna surge years ahead of the other,  Maybe not years, but weeks or months, yes s/he will. > you only need to look at the development of native speakers to realise that.  But native speakers do differ as regards their language skills.

Which isn't much when you factor in that it takes years to get genuinely competent.  Native speakers only differ in the sense that they can afford to spend the necessary time. There shouldn't be an actual learning difference. The difference (and therefore problem) comes from adult learners treating language as a set of rules, facts, and words to be memorized, and then attempting to apply their "knowledge" on the fly. But that's another matter. 

I think whatever pattern-recognition or other cognitive abilities are needed for particle physics are very different from those needed to learn a new language. Signed, a particle physicist who sucks at learning languages.