“The process of learning a language begins with how the brain is structured.”  The baby brain is born with millions and millions of brain cells.  When brain cells communicate or connect over and over, the connections become “hard-wired.”  The connections that are not used eventually die or fade away.  This is why there are “critical periods” or “windows of opportunity” for learning languages.  The critical period for foreign language is 0-10 years old.  Newsweek, February 1996

 

·        Children have the capacity to develop new language more naturally than adults.  Between the ages of 0 and 10 ten years old, children’s brains are geared towards language development.  “The power to learn language is so great in the young child that it doesn’t seem to matter how many languages you throw their way.  They can learn as many spoken languages as you allow them to hear systematically and regularly.”  Learning Languages, Winter 1996

·        If a child enters a preschool and is first exposed to a second language, he/she will be able to acquire the second language easily because he/she knows the rules of communication.  In 3 to 7 months the child will begin to understand the second language. In about 2 years, he/she will be able to carry on a fluent conversation.  Brain Development and Mastery of Language in the Young Years

·        Children, who are exposed to a foreign language, even if they never fully learn the language, will have a higher capacity for languages and have better academic performances as teens and adults.

·        “Studies have shown, and experience has supported, that children who learn a language before the onset of adolescence are much more likely to have a native-like pronunciation.”  ERIC

·        “Languages are for life and they can’t be taken away once you have learned them.  By helping your child and continuing to help her, you’ll have a lasting contribution to her quality of life and understanding of others and their culture.”  Hodder and Stoughton Educational, 1994