Can the environment affect your ability to learn multiple languages? Some researchers argue that exposure to multiple languages at an early age (from birth to 8 years old) develops the child’s brain in such a way that when s/he grows up they will have better language acquisition abilities than children who grew up learning only one language. A common example given is that there are more Europeans who can speak multiple languages than US Americans, and a European often has an easier time learning a foreign language such as English than an American would learning, say, French or German. Researchers believe that European brains are just better wired to pick up a second, third, or even forth language because they tend to grow up in a multi-language environment (in the case of Switzerland, grocery store product labels are printed in up to four languages). I am curious to know if people here believe in this theory -- can exposure to multiple languages at an early age really improve your ability to learn new languages later on in life?