2026 Reading Challenge
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

Questions About The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

by Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (4)

Has anyone found this book a bit tough to read? I am done with almost 30% of it and I am finding it a bit too tough. Linguistics is not my field at all and maybe that's the reason.
Aastha Mehta It is tough to read. It is not particularly fascinating to a layman who doesnt come from the field of linguistics. But you need to keep patience and g…moreIt is tough to read. It is not particularly fascinating to a layman who doesnt come from the field of linguistics. But you need to keep patience and go through it by reading some outside material from the internet too.
Thats what I did. (less)
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Is there practical information in this book about learning languages and stuff like that? In any case, if any of you have recommendations of good such books then please tell me about them.
Joshua Key There are definitely a good number of chapters in the Language Instinct that would help with learning a foreign language. When talking about grammar, …moreThere are definitely a good number of chapters in the Language Instinct that would help with learning a foreign language. When talking about grammar, Pinker goes into a depth far beyond what I was taught in English class- a universal grammar that applies to all languages. However, the best book I know of for learning a language is “Fluent Forever” by Wyner. I would recommend that book and “Language Instinct” as a supplement. A bonus to “Fluent Forever” is that it applies powerful modern learning theory and practices to learning a language... so you’ll get much, much more out of it than just learning a language.(less)
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Chomskyan views are a little outdated.. universal grammar does not account for 'natural' errors children make such as 'I goed over there' which mirror their understanding of the rule 'I walked over there.' This phenomenon is better accounted for by Selinker... Does Pinker explore more contemporary theories of acquisition in this book?
Cassandra Yes, he goes into it in depth. Errors in irregular verbs are covered too.
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How much of this book is actually dedicated to exploring how children learn language? That's what I am interested in at the moment.
Jonatan Almfjord Not the whole book, but maybe a chapter or two. Since the book revolves around the idea of humans having a built-in instinct for language (hence the t…moreNot the whole book, but maybe a chapter or two. Since the book revolves around the idea of humans having a built-in instinct for language (hence the title), Pinker does go into how children learn language in terms of how much is from listening to the parents or listening to other grown-ups etc.

Even if you are interested in this exclusively, I still think it could be a fun book to read. Maybe skip the chapters that are purely about grammar though, those were quite tough to grasp in my opinion.(less)
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Unanswered Questions (2)

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