Stages of Second Language Learning

The article "Stages of Second Language Learning" talks about the five stages that students typically go though in order to learn a second language. They said that it takes five to seven years to move through these stages. After looking at the stages, I wonder, it takes a long time for these stages, some more than others. Why do you think that this happens?

Reading through this article relates back to the learning stages of elementary students (in spelling and reading) that I learned in my education classes the past two years. The stages are comparable to those of second language learners and taken roughly a little less time to learn. I know that during the younger stages, it takes a lot longer for students (who already know English) to learn how to identify words and make sense of their sounds. It was interesting to see how it usually only lasts about a year for each stage leading up to the 'continuous language development'. Also, the stages that I have already known for English speakers takes place at a younger age, while the second language learner stages can start at any age.

I can understand that the 'continuous language development' stage can last five to seven years. Looking back in high school, I was in a pretty diverse school compared to my elementary and middle schools. Here there were a decent amount of Hispanic language speakers. Even at the high school level and growing up in New Jersey, they still had a hard time pronunciating and using correct grammar. I now understand why it can take so long in attempt to perfect the English language, but it is still never perfect. English is one of the hardest languages to learn, and as we get older, it is harder to retain information and learn another language.