Why are multilingual studies so important?
Our world is becoming increasingly Multilingual. There are now as many bilingual children in the world as monolingual children & there are many proven long term benefits of being multilingual. So the question is when should you start encouraging your child to start learning a second or third language? All researchers agree that the earlier the child starts learning a second or third language the better, for more reasons than one.
Why start before 4? For many people it seems inconceivable that a child can learn multiple languages given that they have not yet mastered their mother tongue. Studies at Harvard University confirm that the creativity, critical thinking skills and flexibility of the mind are significantly enhanced if children learn a second language at a younger age. Preschool years, especially the first three years of life, are believed to be a vital period in a child’s life. This is when the foundations for attitudes, thinking & learning amongst others, are laid down.
The best time to learn
Children have a natural ability to learn which is developed during the first 3-4 years of their life. Using that ability is encouraged because according to research learning a second language is as easy as learning a first. Based on the information we gain in our first few years, everything we have learned grows later in life. Research has show that 50% of our ability to learn is developed by the age of 4 and another 30% by the age of 8. This means that children develop their main learning pathways during their first few years of life. Studies have shown that the younger the learner the more they can adopt pronunciations and recreate new sound and children around the age of 3 can learn through play because their minds aren’t yet overwhelmed by facts and information that needs to be stored & assessed, which is something that happens as we grow up.
A further implication of recent studies is that bilingual toddlers may be starting school with a significant cognitive advantage in the area of self-control or ‘executive functioning’. This can have an important impact on both their academic and social future. For example, if a child has good self-control, he’ll find it easier to focus his attention on what’s important and he’ll be less likely to become distracted while trying to listen to a teacher of a complex task. In social situations, he may have greater ease in tailoring his behavior to a specific context.
Our language options at Children’s Oasis
Building on our successful & established ‘Fully Immersed Spanish Class’ we will be expanding our language options from the start of the September term. We will be introducing daily afternoon sessions of 2 hours of ‘Learning Language Through Play’. These sessions will be fully immersed and taught by high quality pre-school native speaking teachers.
Having taken inputs from a number of parents we will start by offering sessions in Spanish, French, German, Arabic and Italian. If you are interested in enrolling your child in one or more of our language groups please indicated which languages and days would be the most interesting to you. The sessions will be 3-5pm daily. Once we have gauged the overall interest by language, we will confirm the schedule and take final bookings in July. Please call or email caitriona@childrensoasisnursery.com for more information.
Published by: admin, Dated: May 29, 2017
