Many educational specialists argue that second language learning should commence in first school instead of high school. While I contend that it could be too taxing for youngsters to learn two languages while at primary school, I agree with the experts overall and believe the benefits of doing this overpower the drawbacks.
To begin with, if a young child is learning not only his native language, but also one that is foreign to him, he may struggle so much that his acquisition of both suffers. This could happen because children at this age are already overloaded with new experiences to learn from. For instance, for the first time in most of their lives, they are entering classroom environments, learning to accept the authority of teachers and developing relationships with their peers. Having to study a second language on top of this, then, would likely make them feel too stressed and lead them to underperform in their studies.
Despite this problem, primary school age is still the optimum time to learn foreign languages. It has been identified as the golden age for this purpose since it is when the brain is particularly malleable and language acquisition skills are at their strongest. This window of rapid development begins to close as one enters puberty, and so it is ideal for pupils to begin acquiring new languages as early as possible. Furthermore, young children are less self-conscious than teenagers, which is particularly advantageous when practising a new language. If a young child mispronounces a word which makes people laugh, for example, he will probably not become too disheartened and should be able to move on easily. Adolescents, on the other hand, tend to get embarrassed in such situations and be less willing to try again for fear of failure.
In conclusion, even though studying multiple languages would initially be overwhelming for most primary school children, I think doing this is best because of the neurological and psychological advantages they would have.
Many
educational specialists argue that second
language
learning should commence in
first
school
instead
of high
school
. While I contend that it could be too taxing for youngsters to learn two
languages
while at primary
school
, I
agree
with the experts
overall
and believe the benefits of doing
this overpower
the drawbacks.
To
begin
with, if a young child is learning not
only
his native
language
,
but
also
one
that is
foreign to him, he may struggle
so
much that his acquisition of both suffers. This could happen
because
children at this age are already overloaded with new experiences to learn from.
For instance
, for the
first
time in most of their
lives
, they are entering classroom environments, learning to accept the authority of teachers and developing relationships with their peers. Having to study a second
language
on top of this, then, would likely
make
them feel too
stressed
and lead them to underperform in their studies.
Despite this problem, primary
school
age is
still
the optimum time to learn foreign
languages
. It has
been identified
as the golden age for this purpose since it is when the brain is
particularly
malleable and
language
acquisition
skills
are at their strongest. This window of rapid development
begins
to close as one enters puberty, and
so
it is ideal for pupils to
begin
acquiring new
languages
as early as possible.
Furthermore
, young children are less self-conscious than
teenagers
, which is
particularly
advantageous when
practising
a new
language
. If a young child mispronounces a word which
makes
people
laugh,
for example
, he will
probably
not become too disheartened and should be able to
move
on
easily
. Adolescents,
on the other hand
, tend to
get
embarrassed in such situations and be less willing to try again for fear of failure.
In conclusion
,
even though
studying multiple
languages
would
initially
be overwhelming for most primary
school
children, I
think
doing this is best
because
of the neurological and psychological advantages they would have.