The research extolling the benefits of bilingualism abounds in today’s day and age. Bilingualism helps us better understand the structure of languages and can give us an in-depth view of another culture. Bilingualism can . It can help people here in the United States and in other countries.
Although most of us in the United States don’t start learning additional languages until middle school or college, for some time now studies have shown that this is not the ideal time to begin learning new languages. In fact, recent studies are showing that the best time to pick up a new language is when we are very young. Rather than causing linguistic disorders or difficulties (as was once believed), being exposed to additional languages from birth is actually the best time to start.
Does this mean that we can not learn languages when we are older? No! It just means that if we are trying to decide when to introduce a new language to our children, the earlier the better.
Here are 6 fantastic reasons why children should be introduced to languages as early as possible:
Today’s copious research should help parents and teachers feel motivated and excited to expose their young children and students to languages and cultures at very young ages. Although as much language exposure as possible is best, !
If your children or students are older, don’t hesitate to introduce them to a new language as well! It is never, ever too late to learn a language. In fact, language learning never ends! You can help your children and students start racking up their 10,000 hours today!
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When did you learn your additional language(s)? Are you convinced that learning languages from a very young age is as beneficial as the studies claim?