Innate abilities of learning languages

[NortT]

Hello,
Does the following sentence have any mistakes? Does it sound natural?
Younger pupils have innate abilities to learn languages which are much stronger than older students have.

Can I say "ability of doing something"?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Younger pupils' abilities to learn languages are much stronger than older students'.
Teachers, please tell me whether it is better or worse.

Not a teacher.

 

[Rover_KE]

Does the following sentence have any mistakes? Does it sound natural?
Younger pupils have innate abilities to learn languages which are much stronger than older students have.

Can I say "ability of doing something"?

I think it's grammatically correct but doesn't sound completely natural.

I'd probably say 'Younger pupils have an innate ability to learn languages which is superior to that of older students'.

Don't say 'ability of doing something'.

 

[Rover_KE]

Younger pupils' abilities to learn languages are much stronger than older students'.
Teachers, please tell me whether it is better or worse.

Neither better nor worse.

 

[lotus888]

Younger students have an innate ability to learn more difficult languages, which can be a challenge for older students.


--lotus

 

[probus]

What is meant by "more difficult languages"? Infants learn whatever language or languages they are exposed to.

 

[lotus888]

Certainly, children can learn a language much more quickly than an adult. As we get older, language differences and their difficulties, perceived or not, are real barriers to language acquisition. Our network has been wired and it can be difficult to un-wire or reroute the connections. Can an adult easily memorize the perhaps 10,000 characters in the Chinese language? Can an adult suddenly not use the S-V structure that over 50% of other languages employ? Can an adult easily transform his/her tongue to the subjunctive? Perhaps and perhaps not. Some languages may appear to be more difficult to learn than others depending on the language structure and the individual's cognitive abilities.

Perhaps it is better worded this way:
Younger students have an innate ability to learn new languages quickly, whereas it can be a challenge for older students.

The "innate" ability to learn language is a very interesting topic. But that's another story...


--lotus