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Children’s brains develop most at two critical times. The first appears around the age of 2 and finishes around the age of 7, and the second at puberty. At the beginning of these periods, the number of connections (synapses) between brain cells (neurons) doubles.
Two-year-olds have twice as many synapses as adults, which greatly speeds up the learning process at this age. As the experiences of children in this age phase have a lasting impact on their development, it is then worth laying the foundations for their comprehensive education. Early exposure to foreign languages gives the greatest opportunities to learn them at the native level, as shown by a 2014 study by scientists from the University of Memphis among children aged 2-3 who learned Chinese as an additional language.
Children in nurseries and kindergartens learn the fastest through immersion, i.e. complete immersion in the language. In a multilingual and multicultural environment, toddlers absorb the second and third languages as if casually, “with their entire being”, just as in the case of the mother tongue. Therefore, teaching many languages already in the nursery provides children with much more benefits than contact with multilingualism only at the stage of learning in a bilingual primary school. Moreover, learning several foreign languages is natural for children. It does not cause fatigue or overloading with material, as in the case of additional classes after school
Two critical periods in a child’s development and education in terms of language acquisition
In critical periods of development, children learn foreign languages easily and without problems. Scientific research even suggests that some skills cannot be learned that well after the first critical period of brain development. Therefore, between the ages of 2 and 7, children are able to master a second language at the same level as their mother tongue. However, when they reach the age of 8, their language proficiency decreases. The same age effect occurs when acquiring musical skills. That is why it is worth learning languages already in the nursery, when at the age of 12-18 months, the child speaks the first words and learns by repeating what others say to him. Children produce and combine sounds and words in their mother tongue and in foreign languages before they can even walk. The linguistic development at this age is amazing as children soak up foreign languages like sponges.
Why is it worth betting on a child’s multilingualism?
Brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI z ang. functional magnetic rezonance imaging) showed that the brains of multilingual people tend to activate the part of the brain responsible for the development of speech, even when they are not involved in language tasks. On the other hand, MRI studies show that multilingual people have a higher density of gray matter in the brain, and older bilinguals, even the elderly, tend to have better-maintained white matter responsible for thought processes, concentration and IQ.
A study conducted in 2013 by a group of psychologists – scientists: Morales, Calvo and Bialystok, showed that Bilingual children have a better working memory than children who only speak one language. Working memory stores, processes and updates information in short periods and is very important for problem solving and executive functions.
Other studies on the relationship between linguistic development, perception and attention control have shown that multilingual people have much higher cognitive skills compared to monolinguals. The results also show the positive impact of trilingualism on intellectual and social development – greater openness of the world and flexibility of thinking. Here are the five positives that immerse you in multilingualism and multiculturalism from an early age.
Read also: Speech therapy – when and why it is worth visiting a speech therapist
Better linguistic development
Exposure to the second and third languages in early childhood makes the child learn to use these languages faster and more easily than if they had started learning them later. Children’s brains, which develop intensively, learn foreign languages fluently, and the child usually does not acquire a foreign accent. It is easiest to learn a foreign language from birth – babies have the innate ability to repeat every sound and it will never be so easy for them to become fluent in multilingualism again. Therefore, it is best for them to be familiar with one or two foreign languages from different language groups, e.g. English and Chinese, from birth and be able to repeat what they hear. Importantly, toddlers can distinguish which language a given word belongs to, it is natural for them.
As parents, we look at learning a foreign language from our perspective, as adults and with our difficulties, and not from the perspective of a child open to the world. It is worth pausing for a moment and understanding that the young brain works completely different. Therefore, an effective method of learning foreign languages in young children is based on the fact that children associate a given language with a given person and do not know that it is a completely different language.
Also check: The most common speech defects in children. When to see a speech therapist?
Cognitive Benefits
Research shows that language learning is more cognitive than linguistic. Bilingual, tri and multilingual children have better problem-solving and problem-solving skills, better critical thinking skills, are more creative, have greater mental flexibility, better memory and multitasking skills.
It is proved that multilingualism helps children develop better literacy and abstract thinking skills at a later stagebecause learning a new language requires the use of the same connections in the brain as learning math and music, and thus fosters the development of these connections.
Find out more: Kindergarten can accelerate the development of speech in children
Better learning achievements
Children who are trilingual or multilingual have better developed qualities and skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and mental flexibility, and have better focus, which makes them learn better. As shown by a study by psychologist Richard Landry of the University of Rhode Island in 1973, bilingual children perform better on standardized tests than monolingual children. It will be much easier for children who want to learn more languages in the future. Differences in sounds, accents, word order, inflection, intonation and grammatical structures will be easier for them to manage. In the case of languages that are etymologically similar to Spanish and French, a similar vocabulary will make it even easier to learn the language quickly – provided, however, that contact with the language occurs in early childhood, and not only in bilingual primary school.
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Cultural enrichment
Learning a second and third language opens the door to diverse cultures. Bilingual and trilingual people have access to knowledge, customs, people, places and things that remain inaccessible to others. Multilingualism enriches the life of a young person and provides him with new experiences. Becoming multilingual leads to new ways of conceptualizing yourself and others. Educators are consistent in that speaking more than one language is essential to the children’s future economic and social welfare.
Participation in the development of society
Multilingual children often have better analytical, social and scientific skills than their monolingual colleagues. In addition, knowledge of foreign languages allows children to feel at ease in a foreign environment, promotes natural flexibility and easy adaptation to the environment, improves self-esteem and self-esteem.
Encourage your love of learning through play
Young children need to enjoy the learning process. Educators and parents should emphasize the joy of trying new things and learning something new, rather than focusing on performance. Offering your children a variety of activities is essential. It is worth engaging them in developing skills in many areas: music, reading, sports, maths, art, science and foreign languages.
Young children mimic the accents and tone of words they hear surprisingly well, and are uniquely attuned to slight differences in tone and sound. In Poland, interest in learning Asian languages, such as Chinese, is only developing, which should be started as early as possible, as it is very difficult to master at a later age. First, the Chinese pronunciation of sounds is completely different from English or other European languages. Second, Chinese sounds have four tones. Third, when pronouncing Chinese characters, you need the correct pinyin to read them as words.
Fourth, the shapes of Chinese characters are square, which makes them difficult to recognize and write. Therefore, Asian languages, which are tonal, and even a slight difference in pronunciation makes us say a word with a different meaning, it is worth teaching the little ones already in the nursery with the help of games, songs and practical exercises that allow them to extra move and use their motor skills to science. Only teaching at the nursery age and in a natural environment where Chinese is spoken will allow children to master it at the native level.
It is worth focusing on the development of bilingualism or better trilingualism, because according to research, this type of education gives the child the greatest benefits in terms of his intellectual, cognitive and social development. Moreover, to make language learning as effective as possible, it is best for your child to start learning it from the cradle