ResearchExperimentEvidence: Small study6–19 months
Foreign-language experience in infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning
Author or publisher Kuhl, Tsao & Liu, PNAS Published 2003 Reviewed by Edustack editors Last checked 13 Nov 2026
1What the study found
9-month-old infants learned Mandarin speech sounds from live sessions with a person, but not from the same material shown on video or audio.
2Source and checks
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1532872100 Kuhl, Tsao & Liu, PNAS. Foreign-language experience in infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. 2003. doi:10.1073/pnas.1532872100 Link working · 13 Nov 2026 · checked automatically every month