Languages at an Early Age

From the time a child is born, she is listening to the sounds of the voices around her. As she begins to pick up the language, it will be what she hears. Mama, papa, baba, and eventually the words will begin to form along with the language that is spoken in her family. Even Sign Language will begin to form if that is used as the primary form of communication in the home.

English was the language spoken in our home, but when my siblings and I were still very young, we moved to Mexico. Because of our youth, we were able to learn the Mexican Spanish language quickly and with the correct pronunciation. Gracias was pronounced as it should be. My father, on the other hand, had difficulty with pronunciation and would say, "grass-ee-ass".

In Morocco, for example, in most homes Arabic is the primary language, but when they begin school at three years of age, French is what they learn along with the spelling and reading of Arabic. They are also given a third choice of language by the age of five years old. They are offered German, Spanish, or English. This is a time when a new language will easily penetrate their young minds.

When more than one language is learned from an early age, several things seem to happen, two of which are an increase in mathematic skills, and comprehension of unlearned languages are easier to pick up later in life.

All over our globe languages are offered in multitudes from an early age, with the exception of a few countries. The United States Department of Education does not offer alternate languages until a child reaches her high school years. At such an older age to introduce a new language, this causes a difficult challenge for comprehension and pronunciation. Even if we began teaching alternative languages in the middle school (junior high), the extra challenge is there because the language area of the brain is normally developed by that time.