Babies are remarkable at taking in knowledge about the language they hear. Even in the first few months of their lives, children begin to learn about how to pronounce words – and it seems this is a skill they never forget. A new study has shown even if a baby moves country at a young age and never learns its birth language; it will always retain some hidden knowledge of the words it heard in its early life. Babies are remarkable at taking in knowledge about the language they hear. Dr Jiyoun Choi and colleauges at Hanyang University in Seoul tested Dutch-speaking adults adopted from South Korea.

Babies build knowledge about the language they hear even in the first few months of life, research shows. If you move countries and forget your birth language, you retain this hidden ability, according to a study. Dutch-speaking adults adopted from South Korea exceeded expectations at Korean pronunciation when retrained after losing their birth language. Scientists say parents should talk to babies as much as possible in early life. Dr Jiyoun Choi of Hanyang University in Seoul led the research.