Remember high school? In Catholic school you could choose Latin or Spanish. What in the world could I do with Latin? And in retrospect Spanish turned out to be very useful.
Today, enlightened school systems know better. Second languages are introduced in elementary school. Little kids do learn more easily than high school students.
But current research says to really do it right, start even earlier. Start when the child is learning a first language when kids have an astonishing ability to absorb. And in today's complex world, a second language is not a luxury, it's a necessity.
We know now that studying a second language offers surprising benefits to children. There appear to demonstrate an improved ability to communicate, have better cognitive development, richer cultural awareness and, ultimately let’s face it, better job opportunities for those who know a second language.
Research suggests that from birth through age 10 is the best time to introduce new languages to a young child. The child will learn the language faster, retain it better and most often speak it with near-native pronunciation. Recent research indicates a young child up through age 5 can learn and process up to five languages!
Many parents deliberate over how to bring a new language into their little one's life. Many experts agree the bilingual approach for the very young child is best. Teach the new language alongside the native language. It's as easy as pointing to a cat and saying "cat" then following with "gato."
This bilingual method provides continuing education in the child's native tongue while acquiring skills in the new one. Language experts agree the strong sense of pride, higher self-esteem and long term retention are all reasons to introduce the new language with this bilingual/dual-language approach.
Both Time and Newsweek ran feature articles on the "window of opportunity" to learn a new language is between birth and age 10. The experts agree, the earlier the better. Don't miss out on the prime time of your child's development to provide your child with a lifetime of language skills. Remember to start early!
Do you want your child to learn a 2nd language?
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Comments (39)
My family is filipino, and I know tagalog, the native language. My husband wants to learn it, and we want our children to know it, too.
We're bilingual, (PA Dutch, a German dialect) and our 19 month old son already understands both languages perfectly. He isn't talking much yet, but has said words from each language. We'd like to have him learn at least one more, perhaps Spanish.
i'm bilingual as far as i can remember. though my parents are Cantonese speakers, they also taught me quite a bit of English terms. since then i've got a hobby of learning new languages. its kinda my thing and now i know Mandarin and a bit of basic Japanese.
my little cousin is 7 but he's been speaking English, Cantonese and Mandarin since he was 2 or 3. He can now also speak French and read a bit of Latin.
i think as soon as you can, give them 2 or 3....it will be confusing at first but it is good for them later.
We talk both English and Spanish to the children in our family. It takes them a little longer to start speaking normally but when they do they have both languages down.
well i have to learn a second one first!
"And in today's complex world, a second language is not a luxury, it's a necessity." Not if you live in the U.S. Those people have no regard for the outside world, even when it's brought inside, such as with the Mexicans.
"There appear to demonstrate an improved ability to communicate, have better cognitive development..." Not to mention they know their own languages better.
yep, i took a whole class on bilingualism last semester.. there are lots of benefits! if i have kids i'm definitely raising them in at least two languages. i myself know 6!
My husband and I plan on teaching our children English and Arabic. There are certain sounds in some languages that are hard to learn once a person reaches a certain age
I speak 2 languages fluently (was raised bilingual) and then took a third language (Spanish) in high school, though I'm definitely not anywhere near to fluent in that. If/when I have kids, I'd definitely want them to know a few languages, and I'd want them to start learning asap. We eventually lose the ability to easily distinguish between certain sounds that aren't used in our primary language(s), so it'd be really important to start early when learning multiple languages, especially those with different tonal systems or sounds.
Yes! I want to marry someone who is bilingual so it comes a little easier...
My mother language is spanish because I was born and raised in Mexico, but I learned English in preschool at age 5 and I´m pretty good at it to the point of speaking the language as a native. In real life I speak spanish, but online I speak English and surf English websites, so I practice daily.
I also speak german but it´s really poor since I haven´t practiced it in ages, and also understand a few words in other languages.
I'd like for them to know English and two others I have in mind. Very useful and insightful post, thank you.
I think the more languages u can speak, the better it would be for your own future. Personally for me, as a Malaysian Chinese, i speak Hokkien(Chinese Dialect) with my parents, Mandarin and Cantonese with my friends, English is a must in our country as we go college, go working, everything is in english, And lastly Malay language as it is a compulsory subject. these all really help me a lot as i can use different language with different people...
I'm learning my fourth. Woot! XD
It's just easier to learn when you're young(er).Yessss I'm bilingual myself....so it could be a possibility that my child could be TRILINGUAL. But I'm deff going to teach them more than 2!
You sholdn't teach the two languages at the same time. Speak one at a time or the child won't know which word is appropriate when speaking either of the languages.
great
I am Italian and don't speak a word...wish I could@lovelyingenue@xanga -Yes I do.
When I was younger I used to know and speak Chinese rather fluently, and I knew some tagalog and spanish too. now I can hardly speak any of those languages. I still know Chinese since I'm Chinese-American with immigrant parents, but it's not too familiar to me anymore. A bit disappointing; I know the high school language I'm learning right now (Japanese) better than my first language.
I dont have kids.. long way to it lol, but I learned my native language first, and then English.
i forgot so much chinese.. i used to speak a lot when i was a child, but now i know so little. sniff sniff :'[
hopefully if I ever have a child, he or she will pick up on Spanish!
@Skyofnew@xanga - Not true.
I was raised in a bilingual household, my family speaks both Lithuanian and American, both were spoken at home. Never was there any trouble differentiating between the two languages. As they say, children are like sponges. My children are spoken to in both Lithuanian and American, and they're very intelligent, know the difference between the two.
if i ever have one, yeah.
@ManoAngeliukai9902@xanga - If you refer to things as both of their names at the same time. "Cat, gatto". they won't learn which word goes with which lanuage.
I study multiple languages right now and when i have kids i hope to teach them those languages as well :) but as someone else said, and i learned in a class. It's better to teach a kid one first, because the outcome of two at once isn't as delightful.