[originaltext] Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to

Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn, a new language. That is, they believe that children can learn more easily and efficiently than adults. Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well. Is this idea a fact or myth?
    Is it true that children can learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true. One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more in less time than the younger children. Another report on Americans learning Russian showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood.
    There are several possible explanations for these findings. First, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children. Moreover, adults can use logical thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language. Finally, adults have more self-control than children.