[wallflower]

While the “critical period” hypothesis is not proven, language acquisition is an automatic process for almost every human child, given that they are in an environment where they are being spoken to.

Also, recent research suggests that the ability to differentiate sounds of a certain language rapidly narrows after a child leaves the baby stage.

> By 10 to 12 months, however, monolingual babies were no longer detecting sounds in the second language, only in the language they usually heard.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/health/views/11klass.html

[tjr]

I feel like I could pretty easily be fluent in more natural languages if, as with programming languages, "fluency" included being able to look things up in reference manuals, and if my expression of the language was limited to reading and writing, rather than listening and speaking.

[jhbadger]

That's actually how classical languages (Latin, Ancient Greek, Babylonian, etc.) are generally taught. Even professional classicists are generally not expected to speak their ancient tongues and using dictionaries are par for the course for making translations.

[tjr]

Clearly, I should have opted for Latin in fulfillment of my required foreign language credits in college. :-)

[wallflower]

Yes, you have identified why computer language “fluency” is not on the same level as foreign language “fluency”. While you can communicate with reading and writing in a foreign language, it limits your ability to connect with people. Whereas with computer languages, it is almost all reading and writing, especially in whiteboard interviews :)