bilingualism_the_developing

Bilingualism : The Developing Brain and Language Learning.

The Rosenberg Report : Raising bilingual children

Visit :

With this letter we hope to explain to you why and how important it is for a young child to learn a second, or even a third language, in early childhood.

A child´s brain is very different to the brain of an adult in that it is a very dynamic structure that is evolving

A 2 year old child has twice as many synapses (brain connections) in the brain as an adult. This young brain must use these connections or simply lose them.

Is there a `` Critical or Sensitive Period to Learning Certain Skills´´? This question has caused much controversy amongst experts for many years, but one thing can be taken for granted . . . the early experiences of a child determine which brain connections are developed and which ones are not.

When babies are born they can distinguish differences among sounds borrowed from all languages. They are ready to learn any language they hear, however by the age of six months they start to specialize in their native language (dialect etc.)

In language development there is a window of opportunity in which a child learns his / her first language naturally. After this period, the brain becomes gradually less plastic and by the time a child reaches adolescence, the brain cannot develop any real cognitive system, including language.

A four - five year old child learning a second language is a ``perfect example for the idea of the Critical Period´´. To learn a second language at an even younger age increases the probability of speaking the second language fluently and even free of accent !

The power to learn language is so great in a young child that it doesn´t seem to matter how many languages you throw at them. . . . . They can learn as many spoken languages as you can allow them . . . at the same time as learning their native language. Young children just have this ideal capacity to learn. Their brain is simply pre-programmed to develop several languages simultaniously.

When children have to wait until secondary school to start to learn a foreign language, their task is much harder. The child has to learn the rules of grammar, reading, writing, try to develop language learning staregies and even go through translating. The task is a different one than it was for the young child in the sensitive period for language learning. Brain plasticity has been lost, the number of synapses (brain connections) has greatly reduced, and the brain no longer has the same facility to restructure itself that it had when the child was younger. It´s no wonder that the child has problems.

Don´t wait until your child goes to school before introducing him/her to a second language. If possible, raise your child bilingual, it doesn´t matter which language you choose. If your child´s brain experiences a second language from birth, it will be pre-programmed to learning languages, making it easier to learn further languages later on in life.

If you are unable to teach your child personally, preasure your Kindergarden into introducing a second language.

Failing that, every child should at least learn a second language in primary school . . . but in the first year, not in the last year! If this isn´t possible, then there is something seriously wrong with the school system in the country where you live. All you can do then is to take the matter into your own hands, and enlist your child into private lessons, if they are available.

However things turn out, Junior English wishes you luck, and hopefully a solution can be found.

Top