So WHY start a second language at a young age?
In this multilingual and multicultural world you will have a big advantage - economic, cultural and personal - if you speak more than one language and even more so if you know it well. And Britain is not an exception.It's never too late to learn another language, but one of the easiest and quickest ways to acquire it happens at the pre-school/primary school age (the period up to 6 or 7 years of age). This is sometimes referred to as a critical or sensitive period in second language acquisition. And although the right age is never the only factor to successfully acquiring another language, this is the period when acquisition of a normal language, both grammar and pronunciation, is basically guaranteed (providing there is a rich enough 'language environment'). This ability declines from 8 years old onwards. Don't miss the opportunity. It'll never be as easy again!
Many people do have the opportunity, the interest and the resources to bring up their children bilingually (not just those whose parents are native speakers). But some adults don't know exactly when and how is the best way to learn it with their children. The result is that frequently, despite thei best intentions, parents give up the attempt at trying to make their child actively bilingual, settling instead for the child just learning a few foreign words or phrases before giving up the idea of a foreign language altogether. By the time children reach school age the best age and chance in their kids' lives for attaining the second language has often already passed.
So what is the best way for a child to master a second language or keeping your parents' language alive? How do they do it?
Children under 8 mostly learn not through formal lessons but through structural play. They acquire information rather than learning formally. This also applies to languages. This is important. Language immersion for 2-6/7 year olds - playing and learning and speaking in the children's environment - is the most natural and successful way to acquire a second language. Or - in the case of parents who are native speakers - this means starting education and life in their home language, which is the best way of keeping their home language enjoyable and therefore active for a child.This is normally followed by a programme of keeping up the language when starting formal school, at 6 or 7 preferably, or even at 5 (in the case of the UK). Keeping up then means Saturday schools, language clubs, special second language classes, holidays, after-school classes etc). If a child has language support at home they might have an advantage, but that is not a prerequisite. Depending on the amount of time spent in a nursery language immersion environment any child has the ability to acquire it and speak it actively.
The language spoken by the majority (English if you live in UK) will not be affected. The most research has proven that even children who start acquiring or developing the majority language before the age of 6-7 will have the same command as those children who have had it from birth. The child will speak the majority language because it's a common media dominant outside home or his specialist language school/group. But also he will have a solid grounding in the second language at his disposal - something to build on in the future, if he has been playing and learning it at pre-school age.
For a second (or minority) language to develop fully, children need to learn, play and speak with other children in that language - and not just adults. This is an important issue for families where both parents are native speakers (it is not enough just to rely on the home environment for teaching your child the second language). Much of the latest research has also shown the advantages of starting education in your home language.
The best (and often the only) chance to give a child an active knowledge of a second language (which should lead to good active bilingualism in the future) is to establish this language under the age of 6-7. Don't miss your chance. It will be spontaneous and it is the easiest time for a child to learn a language.
Second language acquisition at a young age is very different from learning a foreign language as an adult.
Many different successful bilingual education programmes are well known around the world (Canada, Scandinavia, India, USA). Many of them are based on language immersion from the age of two and a half to three years.
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