Benefit Of Learning Languages At An Early Age
By:
Cunae International School
| Published 07/04/2023
For many people, one language has served us well. Like myself, English was, and remains my first language; and to be frank, my only language, with the exception of what remains of some broken German learned in high school where I can ask where is the toilet, count, and tell some unsuspecting person that I love them. It wasn’t until our expatriate stint in France, as an adult, that I realized how unprepared I was to cope in a non-English speaking country. After 3 years, I learned little, rather resorting to dragging my 4- and 7-year-old around to translate for me due to their natural aptitude for picking it up within 6 months through playing with others. Life was challenging without tapping into the language, from communicating with the shop keeper to booking the car in for a service.
My own experience, and that of watching my children adapt so well in another country, in part due to the ease of picking up a language, intrigued me. In fact, I was enamored by many of the European children who spoke three to five languages. And it wasn’t just the fact that they spoke languages, they seemed more confident and resilient. This led me down a path of research as I opened my own school here in The Woodlands.
What I knew was common of most educational practices in relation to languages is that language is most often taught in the teen years; way too late for true learning and absorption for many. Like all areas of learning, the younger the better. And sure, many of us don’t actually require a second language to engage in our world but there is more to it than just that. There has been an extensive amount of research out there that explores the developmental benefits of the brain, including:
- Increased mental flexibility.
- Increased analytical orientation to language.
- Improved performance in math and logic skills.
- Superior speaking and listening skills.
- Development of a strong sense of identity and self-esteem.
- Heightened sensitivity towards others.
My own personal observation of multi-lingual students, in addition to my multi-lingual colleagues, is I do feel they are often a step ahead. Although I missed the boat, I felt it needed to be a big part of our school, thus, we created a tri-language immersion model (Spanish, French and English) for our PreK4 and Kindergarten children, and continued the (non-immersion) trilingual program up through sixth grade.
There are a number of schools in Houston and the surrounding area that have embraced similar models; and even though you may have no plans for your child to need a second language for communication purposes, maybe the points above are an appealing reason to explore such options.
For more details on the benefits of a bilingual education check out this video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmOLN5zBLY&feature=youtu.be
