Any teenager or adult who has tried to learn a new language can tell you how consuming or difficult it can be. When a tiny child speaks two languages, it can be assumed that they do not know the difference between languages. They are just confusing them with each other.
However, research has proved that early childhood is the perfect time to learn a new language. While it’s hard for adults to learn, and retain a second language, those who know two languages from birth are likely to become speakers of both languages.
One of the best ways for young children to spend their time is to learn a new skill. Facts About Learning Two Languages
One of the best ways for young children to spend their time is to learn a new skill. Many turn towards learning a new language because it opens their world in many ways. From new friendships to health benefits, there are so many great reasons for your child to learn two languages simultaneously.
1. Your Child Will Make New Friends
One of the best parts of knowing a new language is forming connections with others who speak the same language. For example, if a group is visiting your city, and they happen to speak the second language your child knows, their able to form a connection with those travelers. Travelers don’t expect locals to know their home language. When they do, they’re so excited to have a conversation with you.
Learning a new language allows your child to communicate with people that they would have never been able to know otherwise. When you’re able to speak a second language, you’ll be able to have a free-flowing, meaningful conversation that can create lifelong friendships with others around the globe.
2. Your Child Will Become Smarter
Your brain is a muscle. The more you use your brain, the better it will work. When learning a new language, your child consistently uses and exercises a part of their brain by memorizing words and learning new sentence structures. This process helps your brain to become better at memorization and has been proven to make you smarter!
When your child can understand another language, they can begin to explore culture on a deeper level.
3. Provides Your Child Future Career Opportunities
Knowing a second language will increase the number of job opportunities available to your child as they grow up. Jobs need workers who can speak other languages. The amount of demand in the United States for bilingual workers has doubled within the last decade and is unlikely to stop growing anytime soon. Knowing two languages will attract hiring managers to your child’s resume because it shows that they are dedicated to learning a new skill and improving yourself. Often companies want these types of employees on their teams because of their versatile skills.
4. Keeps Your Childs Mind Healthier
While we’ve mentioned how learning a second language can be great to improve your memory and make you smarter, it can also keep your child’s mind healthier for a longer time. Consistently learning and practicing new languages has been associated with delaying the onset of Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
5. Allows Your Child to Learn a Third Language Even Easier
Learning a new language requires you to practice how you speak, structure your sentences, and pronunciation of unfamiliar sounds. Once your child has discovered a new set of language rules, they’ll start to notice similarities as they venture into learning a third language. For example, if your child is learning Spanish, it will be easier for them to learn French or Italian because much of the vocabulary and grammar are similar.
6. Makes Your Childs Travels More Fun
Have you ever traveled to another country and wished that you understood what the locals were talking about in a restaurant? Maybe you wanted to ask someone a question about transportation, but they didn’t understand your language. Language barriers can create some difficulty for travelers. Teaching your child two languages at the same time will open so many opportunities for them to have more fun.
Learning a new language will allow your child to interact with locals and their culture, whether you’re at a hotel, restaurant, riding the bus, or at a local attraction. Their language skills will allow you to ask questions, understand deeper conversations, and talk about various topics. Traveling around the city will also be a breeze because they’ll be able to read the language and ask for directions if you don’t understand something.
7. Helps Your Child to Truly Appreciate a New Culture
When your child can understand another language, they can begin to explore culture on a deeper level. For example, they’ll be able to read popular books and movies in the native language it was created for. Many times, translations in the subtitles or through text are accurate. However, slang or specific vocabulary may not be translated right, which can lead to various interpretations. Understanding the native language of a book or movie allows your child to appreciate its original form without losing anything in translation.
Besides movies and books, your children can learn other parts of culture such as music, food, or even politics from a new perspective. This creates an opportunity to ask questions and interact with the world in a new way.
Give Your Child the Gift of Language
Learning two languages has tons of benefits for children. However, allowing your child to learn two languages at the same time does not mean it needs to be a lot of work on you alone to teach them this new school. Consider signing up your students for language lessons to help them grasp a second language. Along with the lessons, you should encourage your child to have fun, play games, and speak in both languages to get the most out of their lessons.