Advice for Parents of Young Children Learning a Foreign Language

Do not ask your child to “perform” Spanish in front of friends or relatives in the target language. Children rarely want to perform on cue, and demands to show off language ability can backfire.

Do not get caught up in a “competition” for language achievement. It is unrealistic to expect your young child to speak a second language fluently. It is usually a poor idea to hire a tutor for very young children.

This language journey should be fun-filled with music, games and creativity (not conjugating verbs and grammar).

Do not expect your child to meet the benchmarks you set for yourself. Becoming fluent in a new language takes time and takes living the language. Every child learns and develops differently. Make sure your child enjoys language learning by avoiding pressure to excel quickly.

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Bilingual kids not slowed by second tongue

Learning a second language does not slow language development in children, according to a study presented to an American Neuroscience conference.

In fact, the earlier and more intensively the languages are introduced, the better.

The study, by researchers at the Department of Psychological and Brain Science at Dartmouth College, in the USA, looked at children who had been exposed to different combinations of languages at different ages and in different environmental settings.

"We found that if children are exposed to two languages from a very early age, they will essentially grow as if there were two mono-linguals housed in one brain," Professor Laura-Ann Petitto told delegates. "This will occur without any of the dreaded 'language contamination' often attributed to early bilingual exposure."
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What are the benefits of knowing a second language?

In addition to developing a lifelong ability to communicate with people from other countries and backgrounds, other benefits include improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills (e.g., Bamford & Mizokawa, 1991; see discussion in Hakuta, 1986).

Students of foreign languages tend to score higher on standardized tests. Results from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) show that students who had studied a foreign language for 4 or more years outscored other students on the verbal and math portions of the test (The College Board SAT, 2003).

Knowledge of a second language also seems to coincide with high academic achievement. A study by Horn and Kojaku (2001) shows that students who were in "rigorous" programs in high school, which included 3 years of foreign language study, were likely to earn better grades in college and less likely to drop out.

Learning another language can enhance knowledge of English structure and vocabulary (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2004).