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In reply to the discussion: Language expert says Melania Trump's claim she speaks 6 languages is not true [View all]Aussie105
(5,377 posts)You weren't supposed to question her IQ or her linguistic skills! Gone and spoilt it all now . . .
Brain plasticity means young children can pick up a new language and be fluent in it without any accent, while older people can't.
I came from a Dutch speaking country (guess which one?) at age 10, got dumped into an speaking English only primary school. Took a few years of this full immersion to catch up, but I did. Spoke Dutch at home, but my parents slowly soaked up English too, but it took much longer.
Father learnt English before coming to Australia, and kept his 'Queen's English' accent forever. Mother kept her accent for the rest of her life.
In short, at Melania's age she could only be fluent if she learnt, and was immersed in, another language at a much earlier age.
Maybe, doubt it though.
Melania's supporters claiming she has fluency in 6 languages, is just jive talk. Even English, she is not fluent in.