In Our Experience
Having over 40 years joint experience in foreign language teaching (and indeed, even more years experience in language learning), the Linguatastic Team, truly believe that the younger, the better for language learning.
That’s not to say that you can’t learn another language when you are older, but we have really noticed how particularly well the children we have taught since they were pre-school aged fare later on when they are school
aged and how several of them — having been exposed to different languages at an earlier age — have been keen to learn more and have excelled in this area later on in life. Here are just some examples of the benefits:
• Languages build bridges
• Other languages can help you learn about your mother tongue
• They teach you about other cultures
• They offer personal fulfillment
• They build up your confidence
• They offer greater career opportunities
• They’re fun!
And our playgroup sessions aren’t only for those who have no exposure at home to foreign languages. In both our French and Spanish playgroup sessions we have had (and continue to have) children with native French/Spanish speakers as parents. Bilingual children, especially when they start school often start to speak more and more of the language of the country they are in, answering questions posed in one language, in the language of the country they are in. By attending our sessions, these children are able to see that other children speak other languages too and are able to gain even more exposure and complement what is offered at home.
Some parents worry that learning another language will hinder the child’s progress, that it will delay their language development in English and/or if the child is already bilingual, that yet another language will confuse them. In our experience, this is not the case. Children are like sponges and are constantly absorbing what you are telling them and what is in the world around them. They may occasionally confuse words — but wouldn’t we all if we were learning so much in one go?! What we find is that although children might insert odd words in one language into sentences, their constructions are usually logical and these productions are by no means proof of confusion. We shouldn’t be pushing children, but we also shouldn’t be concerned about overwhelming them as they are naturally curious creatures and we need to feed their curiosity whilst it’s still there! Time and time again, we have been surprised by children and how they effortlessly soak up what we are teaching them.
What Others Say
Unless you or people in your family already speak other languages or are part of different cultures, you might not have considered exposing your little ones to a foreign language before they’ve mastered the basics of English. But consider this: Many experts believe that introducing children to a second language as early as possible fosters healthy brain development, encourages positive social skills, and lays a solid foundation for effective communication skills that will last a lifetime.
Research has shown that words and phrases learned before puberty are stored in a different area of the brain than languages learned later in life. And as Nancy Rhodes, Director of Foreign Language Education at the Center for Applied Linguistics suggests, ”One of the best reasons for starting early is that young children are learning language anyway. Their brains are geared up for that.”
Below are some links to articles on the subject of foreign language learning and its benefits:
• Babies who hear foreign speech pick up languages faster
• Can all children benefit from learning a language?
• Learning a foreign language
• Bilingual Babies
• Learning early is key to foreign language
