Puberty may be the time of many new beginnings independence, physical changes, social experimentation but it also marks the end of a child's window of opportunity for easily acquiring additional languages. Some parents insist that adolescence also means the end of English communication itself but that's a subject for a whole other topic.
Science suggests that when it comes to ease of learning and proficiency in a foreign language, earlier is better. So why aren't second languages taught in every preschool and primary grade to take advantage of young children's natural capacity to pick them up? As with so much these days, the answer lies at least partly in financing. Early foreign language instruction, like art and music, may be deemed nonessential when it comes to funding. As a result, many children will take their first foreign language class in middle school or even high school, just as their windows of opportunity slam shut.
There are exceptions. Typically, this is a child learning both languages at the same time from parents using two different languages right from birth. Schools usually start foreign language instruction in early grades. Many public elementary schools offer languages, too, sometimes as an after school fee charging activity taught once or twice a week by an outside contractor.
In fact, California ranks among the top five states in the percentage of public primary schools offering foreign language programs. According to the National Education Association, California also leads the nation in cutting-edge elementary school immersion programs, which, as we'll see below, are the most effective for producing fluent speakers. Finally, privately funded Saturday schools offer another avenue for early language study.
The window of opportunity idea is widely accepted. Here is a very simplified explanation: From birth until puberty, the brain literally formats itself to perform various.......
