More and more people want to learn a second language. As adults, we all know there are many advantages if we can speak a second, third or more languages. After my daughter was born, I want her to be a bilingual or multilingual child. But there are some questions in my head:
Will learning two or more languages cause problems on
children?
When can a child start to do that?
How can I help my child?
Why a child should learn a second language
As parents, why should we encourage our child to learn a
second language? According to many studies, researchers have found the
following benefits.
Bilingual experience can improve children’s cognitive
abilities, and that will impact a child’s academic achievement too. Bilingual
children usually have improved writing, reading and math skills compared to monolingual
children.
Learning a second language boosts critical-thinking,
problem-solving skills. And it can strengthen children’s “mental muscles”, improve
concentration, memory and multitask ability. A bilingual child is more
imaginative, creative and flexible.
Learning a foreign language improves a child’s understanding
of the world, including his or her native language, cultures of other
countries.
Research from the University of Chicago suggests that a
second language helps prevent dementia later in life too.
Looking toward the future, a bilingual child will have more opportunities to work and travel overseas and be more employable.
Can we introduce 3 or 4 languages to children?
Yes. Young children are not confused by learning multiple languages at the same time.
Which language should your children learn
There are more than 6000 languages in the world. For an
adult, maybe it is easier to choose a second language-you know which language
you are interested and which language you plan to use.
But for a child, he/she does not know anything about
language. So as parents, we need to introduce them to a second language. I do
some researches and try to help my daughter choose a foreign language.
Someone tells me that I should select a second language which will improve my daughter’s career in the future. But I don’t think so because I don’t know what will happen when my daughter starts to work. We all don’t know what will happen in the world in 20~30 years.
Distribution of languages
I cannot predict what career path my daughter will follow when she becomes adult, so I think it is best to consider the most widely-used and the most common language. Of course, it is not absolute. According to worlddata, the most distributed languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, German, French, Italian, Turkish.
In addition, the official language of United Nations (UN) are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Learning resources of
language
To learn a second language well, children need a lot of practice. Otherwise it will be difficult for a child to talk or understand people in both languages. So I need to find which languages are used popularly near me. After some research, there are learning resource about Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish near me. So I plan to encourage my daughter to learn some of these languages.
When should you encourage your child to learn a second
language
When my daughter is 3 years old, I planned to start introduce a foreign language to her. But I had some questions: Is it too early? Will that cause problems on my daughter?
According to I-LABS research, babies’ brain are the best
learning machines, and infant’s learning is time-sensitive. Babies’ brains will
never be better at learning a language than they are between 0 and 36 months.
A bilingual child might mix parts of a word from one
language with parts from the other language. But it is not a reflection of
delay or abnormal development. The children will ultimately separate all the
languages correctly.
If a child has a
speech problem, it will show up in both the languages. However, that is not
caused by learning two or more languages.
Now all researchers agree that the earlier a child begin to learn a second language, the better. And the younger a child starts, the more he or she develops a native-like accent. All the researchers agree that it will be much harder to learn a new language if a child is beyond puberty (10~16 years old). Of course, that does not mean you cannot start learn a new language as an adult.
How to help a child learn a foreign language
The best way to help a child to learn a second language is
to do lots of talking together. To learn a new language, there are three key
elements: comprehensible input, comprehensible output and feedback.
Comprehensible input
As parents, you should try to look
for ways to expose your kid to as much of the language he/she is learning as
possible. That includes reading and listening.
Comprehensible output
This is the second key element to
learn a new language. You should help your child to produce something in the
new language, including speaking and writing.
Feedback or review
The third element is feedback
or review. That means a child should make errors and then learn from them. So
you should not be afraid of making a mistake when your child is learning
language.
You should try to balance the three key elements. If your child only focus on one activity, the others will fall behind.
The following are some materials
that can help child to learn a second language.
Books, Magazines, Newspapers
There are many children’s picture books, magazines and newspapers in the target language. A library is a good place for your child to read these materials.
Movies and TV shows
Movies and TV shows in the target language is a good learning material. It is best to start with ~15 minutes’ segments. If there are subtitles, your child can practice listening and reading at the same time.
Songs
Children’s song is a fun practice
tool. I find my daughter would like to memorize and sing songs. And she can
learn quickly from these songs.
Talking and
reading with your child
If you or
your family member can speak and read in the target language, try to
communicate and read with your child as much as possible. Just like learning
the mother language, your child will learn the target language quickly in this
way.
Language Programs or APPs
There are
many programs to teach children new languages. These programs often teach
children about colors, shapes, letters, numbers, weeks, months and basic
vocabulary.
If you or
your family member can speak the target language, you can try to look for resources
on internet by yourself;
If you or
your family member cannot speak the target language, a paid course may be a
good choice.
Several years ago, there was some problem with my eyes. I went to see doctors many times. In these days, I was very afraid I would be blind. And I saw many children see eye doctors too. One of my daughter’s friends, a 3 years old girl, also has eye problems. I know to protect …
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Encourage children to learn a second language
More and more people want to learn a second language. As adults, we all know there are many advantages if we can speak a second, third or more languages. After my daughter was born, I want her to be a bilingual or multilingual child. But there are some questions in my head:
Will learning two or more languages cause problems on children?
When can a child start to do that?
How can I help my child?
Why a child should learn a second language
As parents, why should we encourage our child to learn a second language? According to many studies, researchers have found the following benefits.
Bilingual experience can improve children’s cognitive abilities, and that will impact a child’s academic achievement too. Bilingual children usually have improved writing, reading and math skills compared to monolingual children.
Learning a second language boosts critical-thinking, problem-solving skills. And it can strengthen children’s “mental muscles”, improve concentration, memory and multitask ability. A bilingual child is more imaginative, creative and flexible.
Learning a foreign language improves a child’s understanding of the world, including his or her native language, cultures of other countries.
Research from the University of Chicago suggests that a second language helps prevent dementia later in life too.
Looking toward the future, a bilingual child will have more opportunities to work and travel overseas and be more employable.
Can we introduce 3 or 4 languages to children?
Yes. Young children are not confused by learning multiple languages at the same time.
Which language should your children learn
There are more than 6000 languages in the world. For an adult, maybe it is easier to choose a second language-you know which language you are interested and which language you plan to use.
But for a child, he/she does not know anything about language. So as parents, we need to introduce them to a second language. I do some researches and try to help my daughter choose a foreign language.
Someone tells me that I should select a second language which will improve my daughter’s career in the future. But I don’t think so because I don’t know what will happen when my daughter starts to work. We all don’t know what will happen in the world in 20~30 years.
Distribution of languages
I cannot predict what career path my daughter will follow when she becomes adult, so I think it is best to consider the most widely-used and the most common language. Of course, it is not absolute. According to worlddata, the most distributed languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, German, French, Italian, Turkish.
In addition, the official language of United Nations (UN) are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Learning resources of language
To learn a second language well, children need a lot of practice. Otherwise it will be difficult for a child to talk or understand people in both languages. So I need to find which languages are used popularly near me. After some research, there are learning resource about Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish near me. So I plan to encourage my daughter to learn some of these languages.
When should you encourage your child to learn a second language
When my daughter is 3 years old, I planned to start introduce a foreign language to her. But I had some questions: Is it too early? Will that cause problems on my daughter?
According to I-LABS research, babies’ brain are the best learning machines, and infant’s learning is time-sensitive. Babies’ brains will never be better at learning a language than they are between 0 and 36 months.
A bilingual child might mix parts of a word from one language with parts from the other language. But it is not a reflection of delay or abnormal development. The children will ultimately separate all the languages correctly.
If a child has a speech problem, it will show up in both the languages. However, that is not caused by learning two or more languages.
Now all researchers agree that the earlier a child begin to learn a second language, the better. And the younger a child starts, the more he or she develops a native-like accent. All the researchers agree that it will be much harder to learn a new language if a child is beyond puberty (10~16 years old). Of course, that does not mean you cannot start learn a new language as an adult.
How to help a child learn a foreign language
The best way to help a child to learn a second language is to do lots of talking together. To learn a new language, there are three key elements: comprehensible input, comprehensible output and feedback.
Comprehensible input
As parents, you should try to look for ways to expose your kid to as much of the language he/she is learning as possible. That includes reading and listening.
Comprehensible output
This is the second key element to learn a new language. You should help your child to produce something in the new language, including speaking and writing.
Feedback or review
The third element is feedback or review. That means a child should make errors and then learn from them. So you should not be afraid of making a mistake when your child is learning language.
You should try to balance the three key elements. If your child only focus on one activity, the others will fall behind.
The following are some materials that can help child to learn a second language.
Books, Magazines, Newspapers
There are many children’s picture books, magazines and newspapers in the target language. A library is a good place for your child to read these materials.
Movies and TV shows
Movies and TV shows in the target language is a good learning material. It is best to start with ~15 minutes’ segments. If there are subtitles, your child can practice listening and reading at the same time.
Songs
Children’s song is a fun practice tool. I find my daughter would like to memorize and sing songs. And she can learn quickly from these songs.
Talking and reading with your child
If you or your family member can speak and read in the target language, try to communicate and read with your child as much as possible. Just like learning the mother language, your child will learn the target language quickly in this way.
Language Programs or APPs
There are many programs to teach children new languages. These programs often teach children about colors, shapes, letters, numbers, weeks, months and basic vocabulary.
If you or your family member can speak the target language, you can try to look for resources on internet by yourself;
If you or your family member cannot speak the target language, a paid course may be a good choice.
But keep in mind, when you use these programs, don’t forget to protect your child’s eyesight.
References:
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