I just found out my kid's kindergarten class is teaching Russian 40 mins per day.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

99. Right, there's a difference between learning vocabulary words and understanding how language works.

My point is that by age five, a kindergartner has a pretty good idea of how language is a tool for communication. They know without being taught that when they open their mouth, the first thing that comes out is probably going to be a noun, unless they're asking a question. They don't need to be taught that; they've picked it up from listening to baby talk and simple sentences and the radio or podcast that's playing when they're in the backseat of the car and the TV that's always on. And the power of the brain that has gotten them to that point is so large that it can easily do the same for another language, particularly one like Russian, which sounds different enough to hold the brain's curiosity and has a different enough grammar to be a fun challenge -- without the child even knowing it's a challenge.