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The stereotype of the older adult as a poor language learner can be traced to a theory of the brain and how it matures, and classroom practices that discriminate against the older learner. Children do not learn second languages as quickly and easily as we believe. Children do not necessarily have more "flexible" brains and adolescents and adults perform better than young children under controlled conditions. Pronunciation is the one area where the very young child excels over older learners. We should have realistic expectations of second language learners. All children learn a second language in the same way and that once they can converse in the second language it should not be assumed that this ability extends to academic reading and writing. The "critical period" hypothesis argued that the brain lost "cerebral plasticity" after puberty, making language acquisition more difficult as an adult than as a child. There is, however, no decline in the ability to learn as people get older;―except for minor considerations such as hearing and vision loss. The neural cells responsible for higher-order linguistic processes such as understanding semantic relations and grammatical sensitivity develop with age. In the areas of vocabulary and language structure, adults are actually better language learners. Older learners having more highly developed cognitive systems are able to make higher order associations and generalizations, and can integrate new language input with their already substantial learning experience. They also rely on long-term memory. The saying "the younger the better" does not apply in language learning any more. The difficulties older adults experience can be overcome through adjustments in the learning environment, attention to affective factors, and use of effective teaching methods etc.