{"id":50192,"date":"2019-11-20T11:26:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T19:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=50192"},"modified":"2019-11-20T11:26:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T19:26:41","slug":"when-to-start-teaching-a-second-language-to-our-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/when-to-start-teaching-a-second-language-to-our-children\/","title":{"rendered":"When to start teaching a second language to our children?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe families of young children who emigrate to another country, who are going to spend a long season abroad or are composed of mixed couples in which each parent has a different mother tongue end up inevitably asking the same question: When is the best time to start teaching a second language to our children?<\/p>\n

This question may seem purely theoretical, but it is not.\u00a0In many contexts, it is a serious problem that is difficult to address.\u00a0Because each country’s policy influences foreigners, which includes socio-psychological, cultural and identity aspects.<\/p>\n

Family Matter, State Issue<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The truth is that when this question arises and they ask it to childhood professionals (teachers, psychologists, speech therapists …), what they are saying is: \u201cShould we collaborate to make our child’s brain develop along of your life a rich and different thought or should we limit the development capabilities of your brain so that it grows with a unique thought and exactly the same as ours?<\/p>\n

It is from this point that the linguistic war begins … and sometimes it becomes a personal matter.<\/p>\n

From that moment on, the great dichotomy begins, a kind of linguistic warfare, something that ends up becoming a very personal matter for families.<\/p>\n

Type responses<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The arguments are varied.\u00a0The opinion of pediatricians is usually: \u201cThat is too much for a child.\u201d Meanwhile, speech therapists say: \u201cIf your child does not know the basic vocabulary we have created in our guides, he has a problem.\u201d Most of the time, parents take the word of professionals to the letter.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there are schools.\u00a0What is happening with the education system?\u00a0How is this matter treated in a place that children attend daily?\u00a0In some countries, the school system does not advise, but imposes, even exerts great pressure on families to discourage them from transmitting their mother tongue to children.<\/p>\n

The arguments that are used are usually that the child will confuse the languages, will have difficulties to assimilate the academic contents, will repeat course, will have a delay in his learning, will open file to him\u2026 A scene of nightmare.<\/p>\n

As a mother and linguist, for years I have heard stories of other mothers who regretted having moved their children away from their own languages \u200b\u200band cultures, and testimonies of those who opted for dissimulation, hiding their children’s bi or trilingualism to certain institutions that They considered reluctant.<\/p>\n

From opposite pedagogical approaches, the preferred response of open-minded educators to the question of when is the best time to teach children a second language is “as soon as possible”, which, certainly,\u00a0is supported by research<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0However, here we must be careful with the words we use to designate this process.<\/p>\n

Acquisition or learning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

From a linguistic point of view, the study of learning differs completely from that of acquisition.\u00a0The child’s language acquisition begins as soon as the auditory system sends data to the brain for treatment.\u00a0On the contrary, learning a language requires the organization of voluntary mechanisms that require a lot of effort.<\/p>\n

A child who is exposed to a second language at two, three, four or five years will have to make real efforts to integrate the set of structures that are part of the new linguistic system.\u00a0This child, however, will be learning more easily than an adult.<\/p>\n

What does science say?<\/strong><\/h4>\n