The child must select one and suppress the other, which requires attention and the ability for the brain to be flexible, which is possible at this early age. When a bilingual toddler attempts to communicate, the languages in the brain “compete” to be activated and chosen.
If youth can learn multiple languages, why not teach them? Exposure to two languages over one language has many benefits, according to " What's Going on Inside the Brain of a Bilingual Child? from KQED news. Bilingual children may have a superior ability to focus on one thing and change their response, easily indicating “cognitive flexibility.” Both traits require self-control, a very desirable trait in the early childhood classroom as well as life. Up until the age of 8, young learners benefit from flexible ear and speech muscles that can detect differences between the sounds of a second language. Learning a second language does not negatively impact the child’s native language.Īs adults, we have to consider grammar rules and practice, but young children absorb sounds, structures, intonation patterns and the rules of a second language very easily. census shows that 27 percent of children under the age of 6 are now learning a language other than English. According to the University of Washington News, the U.S. They can learn a second language as easy as they learned to walk and learn their primary language.
In fact, bilingually exposed infants excelled in detecting a switch in language as early as 6 months old. However, this is a time in our lives when acquiring a second language comes very naturally.īetween the ages of 0-3, the brains of young children are uniquely suited to learn a second language as the brain is in its most flexible stage.
Why would we want young children to learn a second language while they are focused on learning their primary one? It seems like this would be learning overload at a time when they are also learning how to be friends, count, play on the playground and so much more.