Abstract

The article investigates what characteristics distinguish and unite first and second language learners. The predisposition of a child to communicate leads to an unconscious language acquisition if only there are right conditions, such as others’ permanent talking to him/her or each other followed by sound imitations, and later words and sentences pronunciation. Nevertheless, this condition is not sufficient for second language learners, and more detailed instructions are needed. The author has attempted to explore some different and resembling sides of L1 and L2 acquisition, enriching the article with some reallife examples obtained through componential analysis and observations. The examples are taken from three languages, i.e. English, Uzbek, and Russian.