Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary schools rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Certain professionals recommend that students should start foreign language classes at primary level instead of secondary. This essay explores how the benefits that can be reaped from the aforementioned concept outrun the losses incurred from the same. Although young children might not be interested in learning a new language, we cannot ignore that it will help them in having diverse cultural understandingThe positive outcome of learning languages is that it can help them understand foreign cultures from an early age. Languages have cultural origins, as do their vocabulary and grammar. If children learn them from a younger age it will only deepen their cultural knowledge as they move further in school. This is important as the world has now become a global village, and being able to blend with people of various backgrounds has become indispensable. To give an example, National Geographic channel demonstrated how knowing language helped children of Syrian refugees settle into foreign cultures. The undesirable side is how we might face issues to get children inclined towards learning languages. Foreign languages have intricate grammatical structures, which pupils find different than their mother tongue and perceive them as tough. It sometimes becomes difficult to motivate them. But this can be easily dealt with, if teachers know how to get the young ones interested in the lessons. To illustrate, Indian Teaching Association reported in 2017 how primary teachers faced issues to keep up student attendance on days of foreign language classes; and once they were told to try new class activities, the attendance recovered. In conclusion, this essay has shown how the bright aspect of cultural exposure eclipses the drawback of lack of curiosity of young students, if they learn foreign language from an early age.