By Karyn DePari
Raising bi-lingual children is a growing practice for new parents across the country. Here in Las Vegas, bi-lingual parents know the importance of speaking to their children in their native tongue…and at a young age. Most likely their parents reacted differently and encouraged them to perfect their English. As the mother of two teenage girls, both learning a foreign language in school, for the first time, I’m concerned with their ability to do this at such a late stage. I wish I had known how early exposure would’ve helped them, and how easy it is to become fluent in a second language if you start young. I watch as more and more parents become aware of the importance of teaching their child a second language.
Learning a second language is advantageous, and learning it young is easier according to research. As the future marketplace becomes more global, employers will quickly weed out mono-linguals as serious job competitors. Savvy parents are even targeting specific languages for their children with this in mind. French, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish, are languages useful in world banking, world trade and homeland occupations. Bi-lingual adults will always have an edge when competing for employment in the future job market.
Becoming bi-lingual is not just good for career endeavors, but good for the brain. Studies show that children, who learn a second language, perform better on standardized tests and SAT’s. They are great problem solvers, because they understand a variety of perspectives. They develop an understanding and tolerance for other cultures, making them more compassionate. They become better thinkers. They make efficient use of both sides of the brain.
I was once told that children don’t “learn” language, they develop language. Adults learn language, meaning we use our decoding skills, we translate, we memorize, and we do all these very complex analytical processes that make learning a new language a struggle. Children absorb language. They are born with a brain primed for developing language. That part of the brain is fully developed from teen to adult, so learning a new language is possible, but different.
What is known as the “optimal window” for learning a new language occurs from birth to approximately 10 years of age. At this time the part of the brain that develops language is still forming. If there are particular sounds that an adult has not been exposed to, the ease in which those sounds can be recreated in adulthood decreases significantly. A good example is the “L” sound, which there is none, in the Japanese language. A Japanese adult will have difficulty learning English with correct pronunciation of the “L”, because it is not contained in the Japanese vocabulary. Therefore it is not stored in their brain. If a Japanese baby listens to the English language, he/she will able to pronounce the “L” sound, later in life. This is why children who learn a second language obtain perfect “accent” free pronunciation. They are truly little language experts.
My daughters’ brains are well beyond that window of opportunity. They both are learning and doing well. However, I know now, that fabulous French accent could’ve been a little more natural, had they started years ago.
Karyn DePari is a mother of two daughters and the owner operator of Lango Foreign Languages for Kids, Las Vegas/Henderson.
