How to Start Introducing Foreign Languages into Your Child’s Life

It’s common knowledge that the earlier you can start teaching and incorporating language into your child’s life, the easiest it will be for them to learn and the more benefits they’ll get out of the experience; both in terms of enhancing their learning capabilities and for being more cultured and diverse when they’re older.

However, whether you speak multiple languages yourself or just speak the one, introducing the ideas of learning a new language can be hard work and requires consistency and perseverance. In today’s guide, we’re going to detail everything you need to know to get started.

Introducing Language in a Bilingual/Multilingual Home

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

The best way to teach a child anything is to repeat it over and over again, so it becomes embedded in their minds. Never forget that a child’s brain is like a sponge, and when teaching something like a language, the more you can repeat the words and phrases, the more it will become something they don’t forget.

Be Expressive with Language

Many children are visual learners, and by being able to see what they’re learning in the form of actions, role play, or images, the easier it will be to help them remember what they’re learning. 

Use all kinds of movements, including facial expressions, exaggerated physical gestures, and by physically acting out whatever it is you’re learning. This can be a lot of fun for both you and your children when introduced in the right way.

Keep Things Positive

As with all kinds of learning experiences, if you’re not creating a positive environment for your child to learn in, they’re not going to want to stick with it, and the whole experience will quickly turn sour. 

Always practice positive reinforcement and always try to make the learning process into a game which can be enjoyed, rather than turning into an activity associated with resentment.

Be Creative with Learning Activities

“Sitting down and learning a language through reading a textbook is quickly going to get boring for everyone involved, or just sitting and talking to each other on repeat, so get creative with your approach and try to make the learning process as entertaining as possible” explains Nick Hardy, an educator for Academic Writing Service and Do My Research Paper.

There are endless ways you can do this, such as creating flashcards or your own board games or using online videos or foreign children’s books you can read together.

Roleplay with your Children

Of course, the majority of language is going to be used on a conversational basis, so why not roleplay with your child, giving them an easy way to use the language they’re learning. Use your child’s favorite games, such as buying food in a shop or taking public transport.

Introducing Language in a Monolingual Home

Introduce Native Speakers

While you may not speak another language yourself, getting a native speaker of the language you’re teaching can be a great way to help your child understand and learn it on a native level. Whether you have a family friend or colleague that can help, or you hire an actual tutor, communicating with native speakers is the best way to learn.

Use Available Software

There’s plenty of software applications out there that are designed to help you learn a language, whether you’re learning it yourself, with your child, or if just your child is using it. Make sure you do your research to see what kind of software is out there and available on your budget to ensure you find the best application for you.

In fact, Little Pim has recently released a video player app, across platforms, in which your child can start learning one of twelve languages, at any age.

Use Available School Clubs

For school-aged children, their school may offer extra-curriculum language learning activities, classes, or clubs, so ask around to see what’s available.

“More often than not, they’ll be plenty of languages to explore, plenty of opportunities, and your child will have access to someone who is trained to teach the language properly and to give your child the best possible start” shares Charlotte Harrison, a teacher for Thesis Writing and Ox Essays.

Learn with your Children

It’s always far more encouraging for your child to learn a language if it’s something you’re doing with them. For children, you, the parent, are the best role models in the world; you’re the king or queen of their reality, and whatever you’re doing, the child will want to do as well.

Learning a new language comes with so many benefits, and the fact you’ll be sharing that activity with your child is only going to strengthen your relationship as a parent and will make the learning experience infinitely better for everyone involved.

About the Author:

Beatrix Potter is a professional parenting writer at BoomEssays and Essay Service. Bea writes about language learning; she also tutors at Essay Help Australia website. Beatrix enjoys helping families make the most of modern opportunities.     

6 Benefits of Learning Spanish for Kids

Our brains are like computers with countless programs that help us navigate the various aspects of life through all ages. However, just like computers, as they age, they can become less efficient when it comes to retaining new things. Although learning a second language can be done at any age, this is one reason why children are best suited for it. 

When it comes to learning Spanish, here are a few additional reasons why your child will benefit from learning a second language.

Strengthen Muscles

Not body muscles but the muscle we know as the brain. And - as with any muscle - the more we use it, the stronger it gets. Specifically, the frontal lobe of the brain is where the Broca and Wernicke areas are. 

The Broca region of the frontal lobe is commonly understood as the part of the brain responsible for the movement aspects of speech such as the palate, tongue, and mouth. The Wernicke region assists in comprehension of new languages and sounds, among other things.

Together, these two regions of the frontal lobe are vitally important to learning a second language and the sooner we begin exercising these (or any parts) of the brain, the stronger they will be.

Additionally, children of younger ages (before age six) are able to learn new languages quicker than older individuals. There are a number of reasons for this.

They don't fear mistakes

Children are less likely to be embarrassed when they make a mistake while learning than adults are. They're not as self-critical and are able to learn from these mistakes rather than demean themselves or give up.

They are not linguistically programmed

In the Japanese language, there is no "L" sound and this is why many native Japanese speakers are not able to pronounce it (they pronounce "L" as "R"). Similarly, studies show that young Japanese Americans were able to develop the skills to pronounce the "L" sound with the use of immersion while older subjects were not. Their brains were hard-wired to the point where they could not unlearn what they had been taught.

They retain things faster

Babies and children's brains form neural and synaptic connections much quicker and UNICEF experts report this not only helps them with learning as children, but helps to "form the basis of a person's lifelong capacity to learn, adapt to change, have resilience in case of unexpected circumstances, as well physical and mental health."

Cultural Opportunities

The right teaching methods can help children not only learn Spanish but also help them understand cultures. In fact, research shows that understanding a different culture augments the teaching of the language. With Spanish-speaking communities all over the world, having the ability to speak the language affords students the opportunity to experience the Spanish culture right in their own communities without concern over miscommunication or misunderstanding.

It also allows them the opportunity to make friends with children from Spanish-speaking families who may not otherwise be able to connect with other children or students.

Travel Opportunities

There are 20 nations with Spanish as the official language (and Puerto Rico) but your child doesn't need to go to Argentina or Columbia to find it beneficial to speak the language. Spanish is the second most popular language in the world, spoken by more than 570 million people and experts suggest the number of Spanish speakers in the U.S. will surpass the number that speak it in Spain!

Wherever your child goes, they will have the comfort of knowing they can speak the language of where they are.

Boosts Confidence

Everyone has experienced at least one moment when they felt they did not fit in. Whether in the boardroom, at the office, with the in-laws, or at school. These experiences can wreak havoc on our confidence levels but when we understand what is needed and/or expected, we are better able to feel confident that we can handle the situation.

The same can be said for children who are attending school or activities with Spanish-speaking peers. Fitting in at school is often a challenge. When a child can merge themselves into a crowd of foreign language speakers and be able to speak their language, this not only boosts their confidence because they can relate to them, but also because others can see their capabilities.

Another bonus? The Spanish-speaking peers can learn from your child and your child can learn more from them.

Career Advantages

It's no secret that having a resume stuffed with additional training and certifications on top of your specialty can boost you to the top of applicants but experts say that being able to put "bilingual" on your resume has multiple benefits. In fact, companies who demand bilingual workers has doubled in the past five years and some of today's largest employers such as Bank of America, H&R Block, and Humana are among them.

Additionally, today's workforce is different than those in the past. Remote work is increasing allowing individuals to work from anywhere in the world for anyone in the world - including Spanish-speaking companies. In the global workforce, over half of companies report they are using flexible workers and that "dynamic" teams (ie, teams made up of different cultures) are becoming the norm and experts predict this trend will continue to increase.

What this means is bilingual children who speak Spanish and grow up to go into the global workforce, will have far more opportunities to work for companies overseas without ever having to leave their homes.

Increases Ability to Learn More Languages

Many Spanish words have similarities to other languages, including - but not limited to - English and Italian because of their Latin roots. For example, the word "Love" is rooted in the Latin word "amare." In Spanish, it is "Amo" and in Italian it is "Amore" and in French, it's "Amour."

Learning Spanish is a start to learning many Latin commonalities the language has with other languages so that even if they don't know the full language of Italian, they might be able to gleen a little bit just based on the similarities with Spanish.

Additionally, researchers have found that students who learned a first language were better able to learn third and even fourth languages. If being bilingual looks good on a resume, imagine the career benefits of being trilingual or quadrilingual.

We believe in the many benefits that come from learning a second language and we believe the sooner the better. We invite you to contact us today to find out more about our specialized language training program.

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

How Does Learning a Language Change Your Child's Brain?

It is truly never too early to start teaching your child a second language--in fact, the earlier she's introduced to another language, the easier it is to master. The way a child's brain develops makes language learning one of the earliest skills they can master--before they can crawl, hold a toy, or speak, they can hear--and their brains can process and retain the sounds and words they're exposed to. 

Pediatric Brain Development

The human brain is the only organ that is 80% developed by the age of two--and all the neurons your child will ever have are already present by then--about 100 billion. The synapses that connect the neurons have not developed; there are about 2500 per neuron at birth, and 15,000 by the time a child is three. As your child grows, the connectors continue to expand and the neurons and neurotransmitters do their magic until the brain is fully mature--in the early twenties.

Children have "windows of opportunity" in brain development; sensitive times when specific kinds of learning happen. There's a reason to expect your child's first words at 8 or 9 months, and their first steps around a year--these are the times the circuits wiring the brain for speech and balance go into overdrive. Babies have fuzzy vision when they are born; it's not until they're between 8 and 16 weeks that the synapses that control sight start to connect, and your baby responds to visual cues for the first time. 

Neurologists believe that we are most receptive to learning a language during the first ten years. The brain starts to build the neural network it needs when a child hears the same sounds repeated, and as she learns words and sounds, the neural network explodes. She picks up on household conversations, music, stories, and any sounds she hears, and thus learns her native language. 

The Right Time To Introduce A Second Language

There is no "right time" to start teaching a second language--experts in pediatric neurology only agree that by the late teens, a child's ability to become truly fluent in other languages decreases. If you live in a bilingual household, you've noticed how effortlessly your children have picked up both languages--so it's never too early to begin teaching a second--or third--language. 

The above-mentioned windows of opportunity for learning certainly apply to languages. If you haven't started another language by his first birthday, wait until he's about two and a half--when he's gotten a solid grasp of his native language, and has a large vocabulary. Beyond toddlerhood, any time is fine to start teaching a second language.

What Are The Benefits Of A Second Language?

Some parents wonder why they should teach their children to be bilingual? Are there any real benefits? The answer is a most emphatic Yes. Children who know multiple languages exhibit the following characteristics.

• Improved mental acuity

• More imaginative and creative thinkers, better understanding of abstract concepts

• Better understanding of the native language

• Awareness of more than one point of view in a given situation, see a variety of perspectives

• Improved ear for listening, and sensitivity to language

• Improved social skills and ability to understand nuance

Neuroplasticity And Second Languages

Neuroplasticity has become a buzzword of late in brain research circles, and the consensus is that it is a real phenomenon, one that is advantageous for future neural flexibility. 

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to create new connections and pathways and change the wiring of the circuits. There are two kinds of neuroplasticity, structural and functional. Structural neuroplasticity is a change in the overall strength of the neurons or synapses, regardless of whether the connections grow stronger or weaker--a change in the actual structure of the brain. Functional neuroplasticity refers to permanent changes in synapses due to development and learning. 

Neuroplasticity in children is more defined, with four distinct types. 

• Adaptive--brain changes that occur when a special skill is learned and the brain adapts to that skill

• Impaired--changes due to acquired disorders or genetics

• Excessive--rewiring of the brain that results in new, maladaptive pathways that can cause disorders or disabilities

• Plasticity For Injury--pathway develop that make injury more likely

These four traits are more pronounced in young children, allowing them to recover more quickly from injury or illness. For educational purposes, the adaptive neuroplasticity is relevant; learning a new language expands the pathways and neurons in the brain. One fascinating thing about neurons is that of the 100 billion a child is born with, the "use it or lose it" philosophy applies--any of the trillions of neurons in the brain that aren't connected eventually die off. Learning new things that force new synapse connections keeps those neurons active in the brain's circuitry--structural neuroplasticity.

Cultural Awareness

Learning a second or third language doesn't happen in a vacuum, especially with children. So much of their instruction is interactive, they learn about native cultures and traditions while they are learning the language itself. Knowledge of other cultures helps children understand more social nuance and non-verbal cues, highly desirable traits in a digital world where so much communication is digital.

Being bilingual also contributes to what the French psychologist Jean Piaget called "decentering"--becoming less self-centered and ego-driven, and more empathetic to others. This is the manifestation of the ability to see a range of perspectives for a given situation, which is a lot of adult-speak for saying that bilingual children tend to be more mature than their monolingual peers. 

Executive Function And Cognitive Ability

Bilingual children also have better executive function--they have highly developed communication skills that allow them to reason their way through complex problems and ideas, and then expressing their thoughts in a clear manner. Strong executive function will come in handy throughout their academic and professional careers. Cognitive flexibility is also more pronounced when children know a second language--they can better filter through unnecessary information and target the task at hand. 

Looking ahead, bilingualism and neuroplasticity are thought to be two ways to deter memory loss and even Alzheimer's disease in adults. 

Learning a second or third language does nothing but benefit children, and it's never too early to get started. At Little Pim, we use a natural immersion teaching method for our young pupils, contact us today to learn more about our language programs. 

Sources:

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4356e/

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/neuroplasticity/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/

https://www.muzzybbc.com/bilingual-benefits-for-kids

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

Why learn a second language?

An opinion article by Gretchen Busl, an assistant professor of English at Texas Woman’s University, explores the reasons behind why students should learn a second language in school. Rather than concentrating on an ultimate goal of fluency, which many may not obtain, a more universal reason for foreign language acquisition is to expand one’s horizons, recognizing that there is a bigger world out there than just his or her backyard. While the majority of students may not regularly use their second language later as an adult or in the workplace, there are numerous other traits they acquire. These are traits present even in the first days of language learning.

Introductory language study has been shown to promote attributes including:

·         creativity

·         critical thinking and problem solving

·         communication and ability to participate on a team-level

““To compensate for a limited vocabulary, students must develop their ability to read context clues, to improvise, and to rely on visual communication– vital skills, no matter the language.” – Busl, Is Fluency the Goal of Language Learning?”

These are abilities ultimately needed for any area of employment. Simultaneously, studying foreign language helps others identify and respect both cultural similarities and differences. Busl ends with stating that all students planning to work in a global economy should be obligated to learn a second language, as while studying this, “they understand there is more than one way to see the world - and therefore more than one way to solve a problem.”

In 2011, California became the first state to pass legislation for the Seal of Biliteracy, creating an award in recognition of students who have gained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. At the time of this article, 33 states and Washington DC have approved a statewide Seal of Biliteracy. It is hoped that the rest of the United States continues to follow in these footsteps, providing ongoing encouragement to any student wishing to pursue foreign language study.

Sources:

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/241110-is-fluency-the-goal-of-language-learning: Accessed 09/11/18

https://sealofbiliteracy.org/faq/: Accessed 09/11/18

Photo by Lonely Planet on Unsplash

By Alexis Dallara-Marsh

Brush Strokes of Genius

A child’s grip on a pencil starts out loose, like their understanding of cultures and worlds beyond their own. As they master holding the pencil, drawing basic shapes, and later letters, more and more of the unknown comes into focus. They begin to recognize the semi-circular shape of an Iranian mosque’s dome. They are familiarized with the square shape of mosaic tiles in Roman churches. The muscles in their hands know what it’s like to write out characters, the same ones that Shakespeare used to assemble his sonnets. Via these examples, we see how motor skills underlie art, which is a vehicle of cultural exchange. While we at Little Pim often emphasize learning languages as a means of cultural exposure, we want to use this post to highlight learning motor skills as a perfect time to introduce your children to different cultures through art. Accordingly, below is a list of artists from around the world who can inspire activities that will reinforce your children’s motor skills, cultural awareness, and familiarity with art as a tool of self and cultural expression.

Piet Mondrian

tate-museum

• Dutch
• 1872-1944
• Was initially a teacher who painted on the side
• Started out as a landscape painter
• Was heavily influenced by the geometric shapes and simplicity of the cubist movement in Paris, where he moved
• Met Bart van der Leck and Theo van Doesberg, who helped him develop his most famous artistic style, which highlights the beauty underlying simple shapes and primary colors

A child just learning motor skills requires a great deal of concentration just to bring these simple shapes to life. Resultantly, they have a heightened appreciation for them, an appreciation that Mondrian relearned. Your child might thereby be able to relate to an important figure in Dutch culture.

Activity

Ask your children to draw 10 dots at random locations on a piece of paper. Then, have them connect one dot to each of the others on the paper with straight lines. (Use a ruler if straight lines are difficult for them.) Repeat for the other 9 dots. The result is a very cool geometric pattern. Take out primary color markers, colored pencils, or crayons and have them fill in the shapes as they see fit. With that, you have a Mondrian inspired piece ready to be hung on the fridge.

Niki de Saint Phalle

• French
• 1930-2002
• Was a sculptor, painter, and film maker, most widely revered for her monumental sculpture work
• Had no formal art training
• Was first recognized for angry, battered works that mirrored emotions associated with a troubled childhood
• Developed a whimsical, joyous artistic style, child-like in its bright color palette

The fun, quirky nature of these pieces will appeal to your child’s innate happiness and creativity. Let their curiosity take over upon asking what the sculpture below on the left represents.

art-for-kids

Activity

Break out the colorful Playdough for this activity! Show your child images of Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculptures and let the fun ensue. You can suggest rolling out small segments of different colored dough and connecting them to make a multi-colored snake, which is what I see in the sculpture on the left.

Joan Miró

Joan Miró

• Spanish
• 1893-1983
• Painter, sculptor, ceramicist
• Was classically trained in art school but rejected traditional methods and styles later in life, claiming they were created to appease the rich, who commissioned the works
• Was also inspired by cubism and moved to its epicenter, Paris
• Classified as a surrealist, who allowed his subconscious mind to take control of his hands

The abstraction of Miró’s pieces reinforce to your children that there is no such thing as perfection, especially in art. It is all about personal perspective and emotions. Encourage them to make “mistakes” and try something wacky in their own pieces.

Activity

Grab a few hangers from the closet, thread/yarn from the sewing kit, scissors, and construction paper. You now have all the tools necessary to make your very own mobile, like the one above on the right, perfect for a younger sibling’s room. Snip the hook off of a hanger; that is how you will be able to hang the mobile. Then, cut a few straight pieces of wire from several hangers. Twist them to attach them to the hook. Splay them out in different directions. Afterwards, cut some pieces of thread/yarn and knot them onto the end of the wires. Go crazy cutting out awesome shapes from the colorful construction paper. Pierce a hole and knot the other ends of the threads into the construction paper cutouts. Boom! Your very own Miró inspired mobile!

wang-guangyi

Wang Guangyi

• Chinese
• Born 1957
• Still alive today
• Went to art school after many failed attempts at college entrance
• Heavily inspired by the Chinese Cultural Revolution
• Internationally acclaimed for the “Great Criticism,” which were paintings on top of traditional propaganda
  • Ended the series in fear that its fame undermined its very message, which was that political and commercial advertising is manipulative
  • Continued with political criticism of VISA’s

While less child-like in its appearance than the works of the aforementioned artists, Guangyi is unfiltered and unapologetic for his opinions in his art, just as a child is before he or she is molded to fit into a society that values conformity.

Activity

Let your children make a statement with this next piece of art.  Suggest to your children that they draw how they feel about their least favorite food. See how their emotions translate into art.

Did You Know Every Parent is Bilingual?

“Don’t talk to me like a baby!” You might be familiar with this phrase if you have an older child or have gotten into a spat with a partner or colleague. While baby talk can be construed as condescending when directed at an older individual, it is actually critical to the cognitive development and language learning of infants and toddlers. Linguists and child psychologists refer to baby talk more often as child-directed speech. Many aspects of child-directed speech allow it to facilitate language learning, such as the following:

High-pitch and tone variation

These qualities characteristic of child-directed speech make it more stimulating, effectively causing the words spoken to be more memorable.

Repetition

Children’s first words are often the ones they hear the most often. This is because repetition is a key component that drives memorization. Thus, the repetition common in child-directed speech helps children learn the language.

Reduplication

When using child-directed speech, parents often say expressions like “woof woof” and “beep beep.” This specific type of repetition, called reduplication, also helps with memorization and language learning.

Isolation

Sentences and phrases formed when using child-directed speech tend to include the most important word at the end. For example, parents might say “oh look at the cute little doggy” instead of “there is a cute dog right over there.” This isolation of the word dog helps children learn the word, because they can separate the noises associated with saying the word from the rest of the phrase.

When children imitate child-directed speech, they are actually imitating and learning proper grammar.

One theory about language acquisition is that much of children’s knowledge is innate. Specifically, some linguists have asserted that children are born with knowledge of syntactic structures and then utilize imitation to learn words to fit into those structures. Complete foreknowledge of grammatical structure prior to birth seems unlikely, especially given this structure is unique to every language. In fact, a closer look at child-directed speech reveals that it is far more properly structured than casual, fragmented conversation between adults. When children imitate child-directed speech, they are actually imitating and learning proper grammar. While children’s capacity to learn may be innate, their language learning is in many ways an imitation game.

Each and every parent around the world is fluent in both his or her native tongue and child-directed speech.

Child-directed speech doesn’t just exist here in the United States and with English, but in a plethora of cultures and with a multitude of languages. Each and every parent around the world is fluent in both his or her native tongue and child-directed speech. This form of bilingualism is pertinent to infants’ and toddlers’ first language acquisition and cognitive development.

Just like child-directed speech improves cognitive development in infants and toddlers, so does learning a foreign language.

While parents adopt this child-directed speech with ease, infants and toddlers could also adopt another language with ease. Children can learn more than one language at a time without conflating the two or hindering their progress towards fluency in their native language. In fact, children are noted to become more native-like speakers in a foreign language if they learn the language at a very young age. Just like child-directed speech improves cognitive development in infants and toddlers, so does learning a foreign language. As it happens, children who learn another language at a young age are said to be able to concentrate better in spite of outside stimulus, an important skill in an age when technology, among other things, has become a huge distraction.

While all parents are fluent in their native tongue and child-directed speech, not all parents are fluent in other foreign languages… cue Little Pim.

In conclusion, while many people may not appreciate when you speak to them like a baby, your infant or toddler loves it. Your child’s engagement with child-directed speech makes it a useful tool to teach words and proper grammatical structures. Via aiding in first language acquisition, child-directed speech improves a child’s cognitive development, just as learning a foreign language can. While all parents are fluent in their native tongue and child-directed speech, not all parents are fluent in other foreign languages… cue Little Pim. Let us join you and your child on a path towards intellectual growth.

Works Cited:

http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test4materials/ChildLangAcquisition.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3937814/Why-baby-talk-GOOD-children-Speaking-motherese-helps-develop-language-skills-faster.html

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-motherese-important-children-language.html

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/05/learning-second-language-good-childhood-mind-medicine

The Advantage of Multilingualism

The traditional view of imposing language learning on children is that the two languages would interfere with each other and slow literacy learning. There is some evidence that learning two languages in early education does impose additional stressors on the brain.

• New evidence suggests that this stress actually improves mental ability.

• The demand forces the brain to solve some fundamental learning problems which monolingual children never have to face.

The key difference between monolingual and bilingual children goes beyond the ability to control the suppression of one language and select the other language at will.

• It seems to be about improvements in ability to monitor surroundings and sensitivity to the environment.

• New studies indicate that the multilingual exposure is manifest in improved social skills in children.

These particular cognitive abilities, are improved through multilingual education:

• The ability to monitor the environment is especially important for social interaction.

• Children who have learned how to select among learned languages are better at considering the point of view of others.

This is a critical developmental faculty that the pioneering developmental psychologist Jean Piaget called "decentering."

• Children in multilingual environments have ample practice considering the point of view of others.

• They are also more aware that there is more than one point of view.

Children who learn more than one language are often raised in environments surrounded by multiple languages and cultures.

• They learn early how to see the world through widely varied eyes, a range of different perspectives.

• They learn to account for other perspectives in their communication and their attitude development.

• Not only do they become more decentered (in Piaget's terms) but they become less "egocentric" as well.

At Little Pim, we believe that all children deserve to learn a second language. We use a natural immersive method of teaching. Please contact us to learn more.

The Benefits of Starting Early: Why Your Kids Need to Learn Another Language Now

Our world is no longer constrained by the borders on a map. It has become increasingly global in every realm from business to social relationships. For a child to flourish in this new and diverse climate, it's important that they get multilingual exposure and begin learning a foreign language before age 6 to experience the most benefits. In most non-English-speaking nations, particularly in Europe; instruction in another language is mandatory. Not only are children taught a second language, but they are often are raised in an environment where they are exposed to multiple languages; necessitating the acquisition of multiple tongues.

In places such as Switzerland and Belgium, there are many recognized languages and dialects, and therefore it is not uncommon for someone to speak three or four different languages. Meanwhile, the vast majority of English-speaking countries have no national mandate for teaching children a second language.

In the United States, foreign language instruction is lacking. According to an article in The Atlantic, only 1% of American adults were proficient in a foreign language. Many aren't exposed to a foreign language until their college years.

The United States isn't the only nation that fails to expose students to foreign languages at a critical age. According to Arlene Harris in her article, Learning the Lingo: Taking up a Foreign Language Before We're 3?; Ireland "lags behind the rest of Europe and should be starting kids off before they're 3."

It is a predominately western problem, perhaps because we are leaving an era dominated by English-speaking business and culture. With the advent of the Internet, success has spread in every direction; including eastward, with the future of industry looking strongly toward Asia and the Pacific. Children must learn languages early to stay ahead of the competition.

Most countries in Europe begin language instruction around the age of seven or earlier. It's not only possible, but beneficial for the budding mind. According to Dr. David Carey, "“All The children can learn another language at an early age [...] [The] young brain, before the age of 5, is able to learn to speak another language without developing an accent — to speak it like a native."

Starting language learning early has documented benefits. The childhood brain is elastic and able to learn and retain a multitude of information that someone in their early 20's would struggle with. It's been documented that it's easier for children to learn a second language than adults, so why wait until college to begin learning such an important skill? Exposing your children early is critical, and Little Pim has the resources you need to get them going!

Infographic: The Benefits of Early Language Learning

Below is an infographic on some of the many benefits of teaching kids a second language at the age they learn best which is before the age of six. Give a child the gift of a second language and watch it pay off over a lifetime! Share this infographic with parents and teachers and explore more of the benefits of bilingualism on our website.

4 Thanksgiving Activities Your Kids Will Love

Crafts are fun ways to get your littlest Thanksgiving guests involved in the celebration and keep them occupied while you are busy hosting and preparing the meal. Here are 4 great Thanksgiving activities for kids: 

Thankful Chain

Grab some construction paper in a variety of fall colors like orange, brown and red. Cut them into strips, and hand them out to your kids. Give the children markers, and ask them to write one thing they are thankful for on each piece of paper. Have older kids help those who are too young to write.

When the paper strips have all been written on, make a chain by linking them together and securing each with a piece of tape. Use your chain to decorate your front door, or hang it near the Thanksgiving table.

Napkin Rings

Gather some paper towel roles, and cut them into sections of about 2 inches each. Give kids construction paper, glue, Thanksgiving stickers, glitter, ribbon and any other craft supplies you like. Have the children decorate each paper towel section. Use them as napkin rings at the table.

These also make great gifts for grandparents or other family members when you are eating at someone else's house.

Paper Plate Hand Print Turkey

Give each child several pieces of construction paper in fall colors. Trace their hands, and cut them out.

Cut a paper plate in half, and ask the kids to glue their paper handprints onto the plate in a fanned out pattern. Cut out about a 2 inch diameter circle, and glue it in the middle of the plate. Use markers or googly eyes to make a turkey face on the circle. Glue on a construction paper gobble.

Leaf Rubbing Place Cards

Get a piece of card stock for each person at your table, and fold these in half so they stand up.

Gather strong, sturdy, green leaves from outside. Place the leaves under a thin piece of paper, and rub crayons over the paper on top of the leaves to create a pretty pattern. Cut the paper to fit the card stock, and glue it on top. Use a permanent marker to write the name of each guest on the card stock.

Try these 4 fun Thanksgiving craft ideas. Your kids will be proud to display their artwork as part of the holiday decor.

For more kid-friendly activities, check out our post on a multicultural Thanksgiving. If you have any tips or activities to share, please comment below. Thanks for reading and we hope you and your loved ones have a fantastic holiday season!