Language Acquisition

After reading my cultural psychology chapter involving development and socialization, I gave some thought to the sensitive periods for language acquisition section. As someone who has learned a second language and did so early on in my life, I can relate to and understand the concept mentioned and the findings of the studies done make perfect sense. There is indeed a period of time where language acquisition will be found easier, and after this period of time it will be more difficult to retain and understand a second language (or maybe a third or fourth for some).
From personal experience, I am glad now as a 21-year old that my parents encouraged me to participate in the French immersion program as a child in grade one when I was six years old. Although I grew up in rural New Brunswick and rarely needed to use my French in the community I grew up in aside from in school, I have gained skills which will help me in the future as far as communication as well as finding a career. Because I was so young when I began to learn a second language, I feel that I have a faster reflex when processing and responding in a second language than someone who learned a second language later on in life. For example, speaking the French language is now something I can do without too much thought or effort, even though it is not the language I learned primarily. I can understand and reply quickly in both English and French. On the other hand, my brother learned French as he got older and was a teen, and often finds it a bit difficult to just start up a conversation in his second language.