ABSTRACT
The fact that children learn language so effortlessly at a time when tying their shoes is a real hurdle makes language-learning appear miraculous. Children are faced with the seemingly difficult task of learning a complex symbolic system, one that varies from culture to culture in seemingly arbitrary ways. We have all had the experience of listening to a foreign language fluently spoken by a native speaker—it feels to us, although not to the speaker, that there are no breaks in the flow. Where are the words? Where do the sentences stop and start? This is the first task that faces young children, discovering the units of the language they are to learn.
