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Are you a parent who is actually interested in letting your child learn French at language school? Or perhaps you are interested in letting your child learn more than one foreign language aside from his native idiom. But somehow, there might also be concerns in you that questions how second language learning can really affect a young learner’s various aspects.
This concern is not a surprising concern especially when you are a parent. Parents usually questions bilingualism and second language learning since it actually affects reading ability, social skills, and scholastic achievement. But, if you have been frequently updating with our blogs here, you will find various articles that children who choose to learn foreign languages in a foreign language school “are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not.”
Quoting the article posted in Brainy Child, “bilinguals outperform similar monolingual peers on both verbal and nonverbal tests of intelligence and tend to achieve higher scores on standardized tests”, based on studies. Moreover, “, individuals who speak more than one language have the ability to communicate with more people, read more literature, and benefit more fully from travel abroad. Knowing a second language also gives people a competitive advantage in the workforce.”
According to the Brainy Child’s posted article, there are actually two types of childhood bilingualism. I just think it is suitable to post this here for parents who want to be knowledgeable with their child becoming bilingual.
Anyway, the first type of childhood bilingualism is simultaneous learning of two languages. “It normally happens when the language used at home is different from language used in the community or school. The parents, caregivers or other family members might not speak the language of the school or the community, or the parents could speak two or more languages but have made a decision about which language they speak with the child.”
The second type then is called sequential or successive bilingualism. “. This happens when a child has one established language before learning a second language, whether in preschool or later (the age of three usually separates simultaneous and sequential language learning). Some children and adults, of course, usually learn a second language formally through school or language classes.”
So I hope you have been given a clear knowledge of how bilingualism could affect a child’s learning capabilities.
