How early should we start teaching students a foreign language? Is it appropriate to teach a foreign language to a student who is still learning their native language? I found this article about an elementary school who began teaching their students a foreign language in kindergarten. Tell me what you think!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/07/AR2006080701284.html
Amanda
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13 comments:
I think that it is a good idea to introduce a second language while in elementary school. I have read before that younger children learn a second language easier than an adult would which I think makes sense because children absorb everything. Many children in schools today in America speak different languages, many with their primary language being something other than English. In stores now, everything has english and spanish labels on it, which shows that things are changing. In years to come, America is supposedly going to be spanish speaking majority so teaching students while they are young is very beneficial.
It is very important that students begin learning a second language at an earlier age. Although my research is inconclusive, I is safe to suggest that I have found that the longer students are immersed in another language, the more comfortable they become performing in classrooms and functioning with that other culture. The acquistion of a second language will also help improve students grammar skills, which will ultimately improve their writing skills. Although, as Americans, we like to think that this could be used to combat terrorism, it will be more important to function business wise internationally. I am totally with students learning a second language at earlier ages.
Introducing foreign language at a young age is a good idea because that is when children are more open to learning a second language. With America becoming more of a melting pot every day being able to speak a foreign language will be extremely beneficial. However, teaching students a foreign language could take away from them being able to speak and write their own native tongue correctly because of the different ways to format sentences. It might be extremely difficult for the students to differentiate between the foreign language and their own.
I believe that it is a good idea to start children out early learning a foreign language, because when they are young they are more apt to learn more and learn easier. I think it is very beneficial to start students off at a young age. However, I don't think that learning a second language should be more important that their other subjects. We are in America and students who are born and raised here should be more concerned with speaking English. However, it will be helpful in the future if they plan to travel or are in a business or society that is heavily influenced by other languages. The article was very interesting to read as well. I would want my children to start out early as well that way they have more chances of high achievment in their future.
We should definitely not wait until a student has finished learning their native language before they start a new one. This would mean that we can each only learn one language because we continue to learn language even in old age. A child should begin to learn a new language as soon as it can learn its first. Children raised in bilingual homes learn multiple languages at the same time. Why can't the rest of us?
Bryan Norbut
Not only is introducing a foreign language to a young child a good idea, it is the best time to do it. The child is best able to pick the foreign language up and retain it through life if they learn it at a young age.
Since childern are able to learn language easier then adults, I think parents should seriously consider teaching their childern multiple languages at young ages. This will give childern a greater advantage in their future if they are bilingual. Of course I think other things should take priority over learning a foreign language, but it is still important to consider.
I think we should learn a second language while we are babies!!! this is the best time for language acquisition and one is more likely going to be able to learn two or more languages at once from birth until ten years of age.
I think that it is good to teach children a second language when they are young. It gives them another opportunity to effectivley communicate with others.
I believe the sooner the better. Learning a language gets harder and harder as one gets older. Children who have bilingual parents usually know both languages pretty efficiently before kindergarten. For most children I feel kindergarten is the perfect grade for them to start learning a second language.
I think that this is a fantastic idea! Children learn languages better than adults, so the younger you can teach them, the better! Being bilingual in life can always be a helpful thing!
--bonnie
I think it's fine to introduce a foreign language while students are still learning English.
I think that it is a good idea to introduce other language to the students while they are young...the younger the child the easier it is for them to learn, right? the only problem is if the parents or caregivers do not know the language it may be difficult for them to help their child.
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