Bilingual Baby: When is the Best Time to Start?

The benefits of introducing your baby to another language are well documented. In our rapidly globalizing society, knowing a second (or third) language provides an obvious edge over the competition in the job market.

But, what about its impact on childhood development? While some would suggest that over-exposure to foreign language may cause delay in speaking, this assumption is both unproven and outweighed by the benefits dual-language babies experience as they grow.

We know the many benefits, so the question soon becomes: “When do we start?”

The answer is surprising. According to an article by the Intercultural Development Research Association, it may be most beneficial to begin second language exposure before six months of age. In a study by psychologist Janet Werker, infants as young as four months of age successfully discriminated syllables spoken by adults in two different languages. Dr. Werker’s work also determined a possible decline in foreign language acquisition after 10 months of age. To give your child their best start, you must begin early.

How is this so? The answer can be found in the complex world of the human brain. Our brains react uniquely to language learning at any age, even growing when stimulated by another language. While mankind can acquire a language at mostly any stage, it is exceptionally difficult to do so outside of childhood. From infancy to age five, the brain is capable of rapid language acquisition. Even so, there are varying degrees of acquisition, even for children. After six months of age, infants begin distinguishing the differing sounds of their native tongue and others. Beyond six months, exposing your little one to a brand new language will pose a challenge.

That is not to say that teaching your two year-old French is a bad idea! It is merely to say that the earlier you begin teaching your child, the better.

Though most babies wont utter their first words before eleven months of age, they develop complex mental vocabularies through the piecing together of “sound maps.” As they gather from what they are exposed to, an infant who hasn’t been immersed in another language during this delicate stage will not piece together adequate sound maps to differentiate another language.

The reason for this is rooted in the brain at birth. Children are born with 100 billion brain cells and the branching dendrites that connect them. The locations that these cells connect are called synapses; critical components in the development of the human brain. These synapses are thought to “fire” information from one cell to another in certain patterns that lead to information becoming “hardwired” in the brain. The synapses transmit information from the external senses to the brain via these patterns, thus causing the brain to interpret them, develop, and learn from them. From birth to age three, these complex synapses cause infants to develop 700 neural connections per second.

These synapses are critical in sound mapping, and at the age of six months, the infant brain has already begun to “lock in” these new patterns and has difficulty recognizing brand new ones. This is because although your baby is born with all of the neurons they’ll ever need, that doesn’t mean that they’ll “need” all 100 billion. Infancy to the age of three is filled not only with rapid neural expansion, but also with neural “pruning;” a process in which unnecessary connections are nixed and others are strengthened.

Exactly which connections are pruned and which are cultivated is partially influenced by a child’s environment. Synapses are cultivated or pruned in order of importance to ensure the easiest, most successful outcome possible for a functioning human being. If a function is not fostered during this stage, it is likely that the neural connections associated with it will fade. For the brain to see a skill as important, you must make it important.

To put it plainly, if you only speak to your child in English, the infant brain sees no reason to retain a neural pathway regarding the little Mandarin it has heard. Babies learn about their environment at every age and are internally motivated from birth to do so. Your baby wants to learn and does so by exploring and mimicking the world around them. They’re entirely capable of building a complex knowledge of Mandarin, Arabic, or Italian. So, why not feed their mind and start now?

Easy Ways to Introduce a New Language

You might find yourself overwhelmed by all the information and advice on how to introduce a new language to your child. There are many products out there, but your child’s best teacher is You! These tips will help you get comfortable introducing the new language:

Keep it simple One of the best ways to integrate a new language is by using it during your simple daily tasks. Babies and toddlers are constantly learning about the world around them. Using a second language during your bed or bath time routines is a perfect way to ease into your new bilingual journey.

Have the whole family join in The more you use the preferred second language, the faster your child will pick it up. Encourage others in your family, adults and older children, to use the language too. Use holiday and family dinners as a platform to keep introducing the second language.

Repeat, repeat, repeat Learning a new language is all about repetition. You might start feeling like a parrot but it will pay off! As your child gets older, they might choose to only speak in English, no worries, just make sure that you repeat back what they said in the language you are trying to introduce. Repetition in your daily life is a great tool that will have great results.

Make it fun Raising bilingual children should be fun. Play games, sing songs and embrace the silliness of it all. Keeping it fun is very important because making mistakes is a part of learning and you want your child to not feel discouraged. You can get more specific and learn traditional games and songs.

Little Pim offers great easy-to-use language learning products that you can integrate into your family life. Your child can start watching our award-winning series today! Get started on a fun, life-long journey!

Bilingualism: Benefits of Learning Arabic

arabic-for-kids

There are many articles stating the benefits of being bilingual, but not many go into the benefits of being bilingual in a certain language. If you are teaching your child another language anyway, why not choose one that will improve their future career opportunities, such as Arabic? Here are a few ways that learning Arabic will enhance your child's future. Commonality

Arabic is the national language of 20 countries and is the fifth most spoken language in the world. By teaching your child Arabic, you will be giving her the ability to communicate with over 300 million people.  The majority of native speakers are concentrated in the Middle East, but with Arabic being the language of Quran, Muslims all over the world speak the language.

High Demand

With the increasing importance of the Middle East in international affairs, there is a growing demand for speakers of Arabic. Few Westerners ever attempt to learn the language, so there is little supply to meet the demand. Those who know the language are needed in many fields including journalism, translation, education, intelligence, and government service.

Financial Incentives

Arabic has been declared a language of strategic importance. Not only will many careers offer a hiring bonus or higher salary to those who speak it, but the National Strategic Language Initiative also offers scholarships and more learning opportunities, including study abroad programs.

Culture

The Middle East has a rich and fascinating culture. Be it the food, literature, music, or history, culture is a lot more interesting to explore in its native language. Arabic-speaking countries have also made significant contributions to medicine, science, and philosophy over the centuries. Much of this learning, along with that of the Roman, Greek, and Byzantine empires, has been preserved in Arab libraries.

Intercultural Understanding

Most of your child's exposure to Arabic culture is likely to be through negative media representations or one-sided stereotypes in films. These false representations can create feelings of mistrust towards Muslims and the Arabic people. With over 3.5 million people of Arab heritage residing in the U.S and over half of them reporting experiencing racial discrimination, teaching your child about their culture can potentially minimize conflict.

What are you waiting for? Get started teaching your child Arabic today! If you have any tips or experiences teaching your little ones Arabic, please comment below.

Your Baby CAN be Bilingual

Experts around the globe agree that language learning begins at a young age. Adults that attempt to learn a new language often struggle, whereas small children have the unique ability to latch on to multiple languages at a time. However, many parents face a dilemma when it comes to the decision of exactly when a child's exposure to another language should begin. It's a topic that poses many valid questions among parents and educators: "When should I begin teaching my child a second (or third) language?"

"Should I wait until they can talk?"

"Should I wait until they've mastered English?"

"Will exposing them to too many languages at once cause communication difficulties later on?"

Science has shown us the answer, and it's groundbreaking. Babies can learn multiple languages at a time and have no delay in language development as a result. In fact, beginning multilingual exposure in infancy may give your child an edge over their peers later on. Oral vocabulary is critical for children as they achieve literacy in any language, which doubles when a child is fluent in more than one language.

A University of Washington study determined that children exposed to other languages during the first year of life fared better in preschool due in part to the fact that their vocabularies were greatly increased. The bilingual children in the study were shown to understand written language at an earlier age than their peers.

Children should be exposed to multilingualism as early as possible. 6-month-old babies can understand spoken language with great clarity. Infants as young as 7 months can understand and keep their languages separate. As children reach a verbal age, they commonly mix languages together, but this is not at all a bad thing. It is a common occurrence in young and old bilinguals alike, called "code switching." Code switching is an almost universal step for children as they learn to verbalize multiple languages correctly. Children that mix their languages do so only temporarily, whereas adults that learn later in life commonly struggle with it.

You can teach your child several languages at once without "damaging" them in any way. Considering that over 60% of the world population is multilingual in some way, it's easy to see that human beings are hardwired to know more than one from the start.

Learn more about the benefits and how to raise your children to be bilingual at Mom Loves Best.

Read the full Mom Loves Best blog post on “How Your Child Can Benefit From Being Bilingual” by Jenny Silverstone for more helpful tips and information.

Here at Little Pim, we have many products that encourage language immersion from an early age. Do you have any little polygots running around? If so, let us know in the comments below!

Outstanding Information on Teaching Your Child Another Language

Teaching your child a second, or even third language, is exciting, stimulating, and fun, not to mention an experience that will bring you and your child closer. Moreover, the best part is you will be doing a great service for your child. Approximately, two-thirds of the world is bilingual and in the United States alone, the number of children who speak a language other than English has increased to 21 percent. The benefits of learning another language are well documented; a few of the benefits include:

• - Increased intelligence
• - More fluent verbal skills
• - Greater memory ability
• - Problem-solving savvy
• - Improved cognitive skills
• - Better reading/writing skills
• - Larger worldview

As a parent, you may have a lot of questions about how, where, or when to begin the journey of introducing your child to a new language. Let’s look at a few of the questions parents have.

When is the best time to teach my child?

Research shows that babies and toddlers are prime age for teaching a second language. As astonishing as it sounds, the brain of the baby is wired for learning a language. The sounds of the language are as a pattern to the brain, which acts in ways similar to a computer – coding and decoding the symbols of sound and storing it into the memory. Before the age of six years old is ideal.

How can I possibly teach my child another language when I don’t know the language?

This is probably the biggest concern and hold back for a lot of parents, but with immersion-style videos, books, and entertaining material, your baby can begin learning the language whether you know it or not. Actually, you will learn right along with your child. Engaging videos are a must to attract the attention of the small child. Our Entertainment Immersion Method® engages a child’s natural love of play and learning through repetition. Colorful books to touch, upbeat music, and flashcards all work to reinforce the language.

Where can I find a program that will effectively teach my child another language?

At Little Pim, we have developed a highly-visual, language-learning program that children fall in love with. One reason our program is effective is children can relate to their “teacher,” which happens to be the delightful, animated Little Pim panda bear. The books and videos host the adorable panda so children come to know and love the little bear. They will look forward to learning. One child’s parent is quoted as saying her son “loves the animations of Little Pim and often asks to watch them over and over again. He loves to yell the words he knows…”

Teaching your child a second language has never been more fun. Choose from our 12 language sets to watch a free preview of Little Pim today!

Bilingualism: Reading With Your Child

Extracurricular reading, throughout the year, is one of the best ways to assure children continue to develop language and reading skills fluidly. Children tend to lose weeks or even months of learning when they do not practice their newly acquired language and reading skills over the summer months and other school breaks. Reading at home is essential to helping your child continue to grow his skills. When your child is bilingual, it is of particular importance to include reading materials from both languages. There are ways to help your child to enjoy reading, if he or she does not, already. Many competing interests pull children away from academic pursuits. Reading in the second language can cement skills and provide a fun distraction, especially if reading time is also special parent-child time.

Popular children's books available in other languages

Following are some suggested children's books for preschool and grade school children. It is necessary for your child's academic progress that you select books from her reading grade level, rather than her actual grade level if she is reading to herself. Many children read above grade level, and some read below grade level. Your child's progress in both reading skills and language development, when reading appropriate books regularly, will increase. When reading aloud to your child, you can both enjoy more advanced books, which helps with their comprehension.

For preschool children, most often, you will read to them. Use your finger to point to words as you read. The left to right process is an essential pre-reading skill for English, Spanish, and many other languages; while some other languages use right to left pattern, such as in Hebrew text. Pointing helps your child understand the left to right, or the right to left pattern, for the languages they learn.

Each book listed below shows the foreign language versions from readily available online sources.

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Korean)
• In a Small, Small, Pond by Denise Fleming (picture book - have your child create the story from the pictures, using the second language)
• Harold and The Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (Spanish, French, Korean)
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Mandarin)
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Spanish, German, French, Mandarin)
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess (Spanish, French, Italian, Hebrew)
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle (Spanish, French, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese)
• I'll love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw (Spanish, French)
• MyFace, Book by Starbright Books ( Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese)

Read Aloud Chapter Books

• Charlottes Web by E.B.White (Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean)
• Ramona and Beezus by Beverly Cleary (Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese)
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis (Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean)
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (German, French, Mandarin, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese, Korean)

These are a few books to get you started on you bilingual reading lists. Once your child has identified the authors he especially enjoys, you can encourage him to explore more of that writer's work.

For more information on enriching your child's bilingual education, let Little Pim be your go-to source.

Why Bilingualism is Crucial to Your Child's Future

The world is getting smaller and smaller. Jet liners, bullet trains, the internet and new international markets are blurring the lines on our old maps. Our future is changing. The world that our children grow into isn't going to be the one of ours or our parents. That's why it's time to take the future seriously. Parents, grandparents and teachers need to put on their "game faces" and have a serious talk about bilingualism.

When a child is bilingual, their mind opens up to an entirely new world. We know that in this ever-changing global economy, those fluent in more than one language have better odds at a brighter future. The United States has seen a rapid change in language and culture over the last century that has facilitated the growth of professional bilingualism in the public and private sectors.

To put it into layman's terms: bilingualism = jobs.

Translators have always been an important component at every level of government and business. But translating isn't the only profession that requires the mastery of another language. Today, educators and medical professionals often find themselves in situations that require the use of a language other than their native tongue.

Complex global affairs have caused leaders to identify a need for bilingual talent within the government. Corporate outsourcing has increased the amount of multilingual interactions in the business world. Many nations around the world are rising as economic superpowers - such as Russia, China, and India - and to learn the languages of such nations increases the desirability of any potential hire.

You must be wondering...how are these things relevant to my child now? 

Foreign language careers are on the rise. When your bright-eyed three-year old graduates from college, she'll enter into a job market in which multilingualism is a highly sought after skill. Research done by Korn/Ferry International stated that over 66% of North American recruiters felt that being bilingual would become extremely important over the next 10 years. Today, many HR departments require eligible candidates to be bilingual. If you look on any job posting website, you will likely see hundreds of jobs - even part-time work - that require bilingual candidates.

Language learning should start young. Adults can learn languages, but as our brains mature they tend to over-analyze. This makes it incredibly difficult for many adults to pick up a second language. Young children don't have this problem. According to a study at MIT, children go through a "sensitive period" for language learning that lasts until puberty. Between birth and five years of age, the human brain is hard-wired for learning multiple languages*. After age five, this critical window begins to close and it gets much harder to acquire a new language and a good accent.*

Language learning is proven to "feed the mind." Learning another language gives kids an educational edge over monolingual peers. Longitudinal studies at Harvard suggested that language learning "increases critical thinking skills, creativity, and flexibility in children." Speaking more than one language can help kids with planning and problem solving. It also helps children with attention and cognition. According to Psychology Today, children in bilingual environments perform better on standardized tests and have better academic performance in general.

To give your kids a leg up in a competitive educational environment as well as the job market, it's imperative that language immersion starts now.

Getting your child started in language learning can give them the skills they need for a secure future. At Little Pim, we're here to help you through that journey by giving you the tools that you need. If you have questions about how Little Pim could benefit your child, or about the benefits of language learning, don't hesitate to contact us or comment below today.

8 Do's and Don'ts of Raising a Multilingual Baby

The benefits of raising a multilingual child are plenteous. From improved cognitive performance to increased marketability in the future workforce, the multilingual child has the advantage over his/her peers and in life. Parents can begin the process of teaching their child languages from infancy! Research done by Dr. April Benasich, Little Pim Advisor and Director of the Infancy Studies Laboratory at the Center for Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University has revealed babies learn languages in a different manner than a person who already knows a language. Those individuals learn a new language primarily through memorization, studying what letters make what sounds, and so on. On the contrary, a baby’s brain unconsciously follows sound patterns, changes in pitch, stress, or tone, and identifies slight changes.

According to various studies, teaching your child new languages between the ages of birth and five years old is the best time to accomplish this goal. Here are our 8 do's and don'ts of raising a multilingual baby:

Do’s

• - Make learning languages fun and creative, implementing multilingual videos, flashcards, storybooks, songs, and games (the latter as is appropriate for the age).
• - Use the immersion technique. Since young children are able to differentiate between phonemes, which are the “sound elements or building blocks of language,” it makes sense that immersing them into an environment where they are continually hearing the language, teaches them effectively.
• - Create a routine that you and the whole family can consistently stick with. Language learning videos, storybooks, and singing can be weaved into a routine for your child, making the whole concept of learning languages familiar and fun.
• - Help your older (speaking) child to find opportunities to use his or her newly developed skills in the acquired language. This will build confidence, as well as give practice.

Don’ts

• - Don’t judge the progress of your child’s advancement by what you see now. Even if your child is not speaking yet, the brain is absorbing the sound patterns, and it is creating new pathways that some day will be evident.
• - Don’t make learning stressful with either a lot of rigorous-looking “work” or stressful because of your attitude as a parent. Although, you may have the routine you want to be consistent with, keep things light and fun. The whole process should be viewed positively. This is accomplished by using interesting, colorful foreign language materials.
• - Don’t push your child too hard or too fast. As stated in the Do’s section, using the immersion technique with good quality material will acclimate your child to the language naturally.
• - Don’t worry if you notice your child is mixing up languages – this is normal when learning another language. Over time, your child will get it straightened out.

Learning a second or third language is so much easier for a child, and in today’s world it is fast becoming a necessity to know more than one language. Many parents are taking the step to introduce their child to the wonderful world of language(s).

Little Pim’s award-winning language learning program has successfully helped many children on their journey. Parents are amazed at how wonderful the program works with their child. "Entertaining and engaging" are just some of the words used to express the learning materials. If you would like to learn more about this program, please comment below or contact us today!

3 Ways to Help Raise Bilingual Children

There's no doubt about it – bilingualism is an admired trait these days. Anyone who's bilingual becomes more attractive to employers in the global age, but learning a new language takes a considerable amount of time. Even if you aren't fluent in a second language yourself, you can help your child become bilingual while learning a new language alongside them. Recent studies indicate that even exposure to a second language helps to improve a child’s social and cognitive skills. Videos

Videos are a great way to get started with a new language because your child will start to hear the correct pronunciation of words. Fun and educational videos like the ones offered by Little Pim build a foundation in the new language, teaching some of the most basic words and phrases. Our program is designed to keep children interested as they learn the language, with short episodes starring our cute panda. After learning a few words, the storyline and characters helps them see the language in use. Visit our website to watch a demo video with your little ones.

Flashcard Games

When people think of flashcards, they might simply think about the "drill and kill" style of learning – simply showing the flashcards to the child and having the child say what they are. This can get boring, and most children will resist these methods. However, if you turn it into a game, it becomes a lot more exciting. For instance, spread the flashcards on the floor and have your child toss a beanbag. Your child then has to say what's on the flashcard the beanbag landed on. Make this game harder by having your child use the word in a sentence.

Exposure to Native Speakers

As your child's language skills start to blossom, exposing him or her to native speakers – and opportunities to use his or her language skills in meaningful ways – is a fantastic way to solidify them. If you're lucky enough to have family members that speak a foreign language, encourage them to only use that language around your child. If not, look for cultural groups in your city or consider taking a trip to a country where they speak the language your child is learning.

At Little Pim, we're focused on helping young children learn new languages in fun ways. We offer Little Pim's language learning program in 12 languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, and English. Contact us to learn more about how our program can help your child learn a new language.

Being Bilingual Can Improve All Areas of Your Child's Life

We live in an increasingly global world where learning a second language can give your child many advantages. Learning a foreign language at an early age improves overall fluency, but the issue is that most schools do not offer the opportunity to learn a second language until high school. According to Forbes magazine, we have a "foreign language deficit" in our country, especially when we are compared to other countries. Overseas, most countries require their students to learn English as a second language from a young age. When researching the benefits of bilingualism, it seems that the pros are endless; speaking more than one language can improve social skills, school performance, emotional health, and so much more. With all of the positives that come from being bilingual, it's a wonder that more young children are not being raised bilingual.

Learning a Second Language Improves School Performance

According to a study performed by Stanford researchers on language, the language children are exposed to in infancy and early childhood has a massive impact on their academic abilities and ability to communicate later in life. The best way to set your child up for success is to teach them both their native language, alongside a foreign language, during the critical period between infancy and six years old. Bilingual children have been proven to score higher on tests throughout their entire school career.

Speaking Multiple Languages Improves Social Skills

In a piece exploring the superior social skills of bilingual children by Katherine Kinzler, published in the New York Times, she found that children who are bilingual or multilingual have an easier time understanding different perspectives. This is because they have to understand when to speak a certain language, and to whom. This greatly improves their ability to communicate and empathize with people from all different walks of life. For more information about this study, check out our blog post on "Raising a People Person."

Bilingual Children Tend To Be More Creative

According to a study performed by the University of Strathclyde’s School of Psychological Sciences and Health, children who speak two languages statistically scored higher when it came to creative thinking and problem solving. Bilingual children scored much higher than monolingual children all across the board, in fact; especially when it came to questions assessing their critical thinking skills. In other words, bilingual children's ability to think outside the box helped them eventually work out answers to questions that they otherwise may not have been able to answer.

It Can Even Improve Emotional Health

Language plays a large role in our emotional health, because it is the only way we can articulate our deepest feelings, whether we choose to write them in a journal or discuss them with friends and family members. The ability to express their emotions in more than one language offers children more opportunity to talk to more people; it's also a good way to vent their emotions when around those who are monolingual. Also, when observed in school, bilingual children showed a better ability to pay attention and exhibit inhibitory control. It has been shown that bilingual children tend to have better relationships with their teachers and peers as well. Those early experiences with teachers and friends are vital to a child's emotional health and social development; teaching your child a second language can help ensure those interactions will be positive ones.

Cultural Curiosity and Tolerance

Bilingual children often have a natural curiosity about the country from which their second language originated. From a very young age, they have also been shown to be more tolerant of other cultures; they play more easily with children who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, they are more likely to engage in play with children who do not speak their language, and they show more of an interest in socializing outside of their usual social circles. Since our world is becoming more globalized every day, the ability to tolerate and show interest in other cultures is an important advantage.

The Benefits Are Endless

There are endless benefits to teaching your child a second language from an early age - this article has only covered a small handful of the advantages your child will get through becoming bilingual! If you would like to introduce your child to a new language, try out Little Pim for free by watching a demo video to get started as soon as possible!