Should Children Learn English Language At A Young Age

“Learning a foreign language draws your focus to the mechanics of language: grammar, conjugations, and sentence structure”(Merritt). Before I began learning Spanish, I did not even know that conjugation was a thing, but in speaking a different language, I have had the opportunity to push myself to learn about conjugation in Spanish as well as recognize it in English. “The positive effects of learning to speak a second language can train the brain to analyze and process different linguistic structures” (9 Big Advantages). In the same way a foreign language affects one’s first language, it also creates skills that are highly beneficial to those who choose to use their brains. Benefits include: improved memory, increased attention span, improved multitasking abilities, more logical and rational thought, increased awareness of surroundings, and more. “Speaking a foreign language improves the functionality of your brain by challenging it to recognise, negotiate meaning, and communicate in different language systems” (9 Big Advantages). Consequently, these cognitive benefits translate into different aspects of one’s life such as affecting their professional life.

Speaking a second language can prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s. Being bilingual can improve someone’s skills and brain function. It can also increase your brain size and connectivity. If someone knows more than one language it can help protect their brain against aging and it can help if a second language is learned at a young age. Learning a second language can help people in many ways but the most important thing for people to learn a language is to better their health.

Many kids in school are wanting to learn a new language away from their native language but many students are wondering what language is going to help them the most in the future. English is the clear answer for these students that are wondering what new language to learn for a number of reasons. Through different articles through the book “Language: A Reader for Writers” it discusses how language is the most successful and most useful language to speak. College students who want to learn a second language, that have not learned English, should learn English because it is the most widely used language in the world and it is the most useful language to learn.

Many parents believe that it is better not to speak English. When this happens the students will not receive the practice that they really need. The student must know their parents’ language it is imperative to the student’s cultural identity and has to maintain a healthy relationship with their family. Parents’ have concerns about using their native language with their children include: learning another language is too difficult it will delay their language development; the child will not be able to master either language; they will not be as proficient as the students who know one language; confusing the two languages will happen; and they will communicate in English with an accent. The school should address these concerns before the school year begins.

Foreign languages help students compete to be accepted into top schools. Many colleges require a foreign language for admission, but more than that it teaches students important study skills needed to be accepted to and excel in college. The memory is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Learning a foreign language exercises the memory, thus making it easier to remember facts from other classes. Students who study a foreign language also find their English improves. By learning a language, students learn English grammar, sentence construction and parts of speech, helping them excel in English and other classes that require writing.

After watching this, I now feel that it would be very beneficial for a child to learn a second language because like the video says, it opens up more future opportunities for the child. In the article, “Chinese, English, Spanish” by Tom McArthur, it talks about how English is one of the most popular languages today, and how variations of English can be heard or read almost everywhere. Although English is a very popular language, it is always an advantage to know other languages. In the video, it states that knowing just English is actually a limitation in life because so many jobs want bilingual

Second benefit is improvement of social skills. Knowing a different language helps children to adapt easily to a new environment, increasing his/her self-esteem and self-confidence. How would you feel if someone asks you a question and you don’t understand? I know that feeling. Children feel more confident and secure and will never feel humiliated by not being able to communicate.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) report that “the language areas of the brain seem to go through the most dynamic period of growth between the ages of 6 and 13” (qtd. in Talukder 3). The UCLA study instead suggests that “the elementary and middle school years are the biologically most advantageous times for acquisition of a second language” (qtd. in Talukder 3). It is during the first years of life that “the foundations for thinking, language, vision, attitudes, aptitudes, and other characteristics are laid down," says Ronald Kotulak, author of Inside the Brain (qtd. in Dryden and Voss 266). Studies of the brain show that a second language is stored in the same part of the brain as a first language when learned by age 8. After that age, a second language is stored in a different part of the brain.

Learning a second language can help children maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who only know one language. While this might add more hours in the school day, learning a new language will help keep the brain young, which means it can delay dementia by several years. Dementia is huge category of brain diseases that cause decrease in the ability to think and remember. Sacrificing one more hour in school can lead to the possibly you will never have dementia. Another benefit to learning a new language you have significantly better cognitive abilities (general intelligence and reading) compared to people who do not know a second language.

According to a study conducted in 2008 by Ingrid Pufahl and Nancy C. Rhodes, from the Center for Applied Linguistics, the number of elementary and middle schools in America teaching a foreign language has decreased since 1997. As of 2008, only 25% of elementary schools taught foreign languages, and only 58% of middle schools taught foreign languages as well (261, 262). Despite studies saying that learning a second language when younger is easier, according to the article, “List of Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education”, less than half of elementary schools offer a foreign language, due to claims that language programs are expensive, and lack qualified teachers. However, there are many benefits of learning a second language, making knowledge of a foreign language worthwhile.

To begin, I am going to summarize the video of “Does learning languages make kids smarter?” of the program “Your voice” which you can find it in the following page multilingualliving.com.

Deciding whether English should be taught or not is a tricky question to answer. If there truly is a proper English, then why are the rules not enforced or taught? English is already a hard language, deciding who creates the guidelines of English is even harder than having to teach any guideline for “proper English”. I have been enrolled in one English class every year since elementary and I believe that the way English is taught today is the most effective way of teaching English. If there is a proper English but is not taught to all individuals, then some cultures may be looked as “dumb” or “stupid” for speaking English differently. English has continuously created a hierarchy that leaves the “superior” class to reap the benefits, while those

While having the opportunity to take a foreign language is a great thing, we should not be waiting to post elementary school to teach it. A foreign language should be taught when the mind is in its language acquisition stage. Foreign language is more than common thing here in the United States of America. We are culturally diverse nation, filled with many different nationalities. According to Carla McClure, an education writer, she argues the benefits of early second language acquisition. She references numerous studies, one being the correlation between second language learning and improved mental process. As well as, mentioning that children who starting learning a second language before middle school are more like to speak the language fluently.

Children acquire language since they were born. They communicate with their parents. Furthermore, children and parents interact with each other using a language that we often call the first language or mother tongue. At an early age, children are only learning one language that is the mother tongue. By age and speech development, children improve to acquire a second language from the school or the environment around them. In terms of speed of langgauge acquisition, children are factorized by both the child and the child’s learning environment. Therefore, it is important to understand how children acquire second language. This paper is provided

It has been shown that learning a second language from primary school has cognitive and academic benefits. When a child becomes bilingual it helps to develop stronger communication skills in their native language and learn additional new languages at a faster rate. Majority language students who learn score significantly higher on the IOWA, SAT and ACT tests than minority language students. Being a bilingual child enhance ability to adapt to changing situations and engage in high level cognitive thinking. When bilingual child grow they are more employable and they get more carrier opportunities than monolingual person. So there is reason enough to learn second language and to keep learning them as we are able. The bilingualism advantages may not appear in the child’s primary age. But bilingualism’s real benefits could be far more important. A good bilingual primary program is a great way to support the development of children in their native language and also a good start to them toward a future of fully bilingual professional