The verb to acquire is equivalent to others, such as to achieve, obtain or obtain. The noun acquisition is used to refer to obtaining something, such as a manual skill, a specific knowledge or an object of consumption.
Language acquisition
Our ability to speak is not achieved simply and automatically, but requires a slow acquisition process. According to experts studying human communication, there are two stages in relation to language acquisition. The first lasts approximately 12 months and is known as the pre-linguistic stage (during this period the baby only emits babbling and onomatopoeic sounds that are not yet articulated words).
In the second, the child begins to articulate meaningful words and this happens between 15 and 18 months. From this second level, a process of evolution and language acquisition begins that is not consolidated until the age of 6. If during the first 6 years a language were not learned for some reason, its subsequent acquisition would be fraught with difficulties (the so-called "wild children" who have not been in contact with other human beings during childhood have not managed to develop language acquisition fully).
The acquisition of a product or a service
In our society we do not stop constantly acquiring things. The fact of buying a simple object has a series of possible implications: that we are going to use it in our personal lives, that we are going to trade with it or that we are going to use it as a gift to another person. We acquire things with all kinds of approaches, but in any case what we acquire is something of our property and the law protects the assets of each individual.
The value and price in the acquisition
Among the things that we can buy, some have a specific price and others have a value that is impossible to calculate in economic terms. If I buy something I know perfectly the price I have paid for it and what the amount paid represents for me.
On the other hand, I cannot calculate the value of the acquisition of a skill, of the language itself or of an inherited asset. Although value and price are terms that we use synonymously, they are actually different concepts. The price of a product is something objective, while the value it may have is totally subjective. Therefore, an object that is put up for sale has three dimensions: its cost, its price and its value. Cost is the outlay made to manufacture a product or provide a service. The price is the amount of money that is fixed when acquiring a product or contracting a service. Value is the amount that customers would be willing to pay to meet their expectations. As the poet Antonio Machado said, only the fool confuses value and price.
Other insights
On the other hand, in the field of computing the term has a special presence since it designates a concept frequently used in this context such as Data acquisition which involves taking signals from the real world in order to achieve data that will then be processed and treated by a computer or another device.
Likewise, in colloquial language we find a reference for the word, since it is used when someone wants to highlight the help or excellent service that someone has given them or the benefits that such person represents. "Laura's boyfriend is a real addition to the family".
Meanwhile, the word acquisition has several synonyms, in addition to the aforementioned purchase, such as: operation, obtaining, transaction ...and is directly opposed to concepts such as those of loss and ruin.
