Reasons Kids Should Speak Another Language
Studies show there are diverse benefits for a child receiving exposure to a second language. Unfortunately, budget cuts to schools have threatened our children’s introduction to learning another language at a young enough age where they can reap the ultimate social, communicative, and cognitive benefits.
In a time when children’s options for learning another language are limited under their schools’ curricula, one potential resource–emphasized by some of the parents at our multicutural summper camp–is consituted by local businesses focused on providing immersive, community-building classes for kids. One such business is Chicago’s Multilingual Connections — a cozy, bright West Bucktown language-learning center offering camps and classes for children ages 1-12.
Here are four great reasons to consider enrolling your kids in a language-learning course:
- As our good friends in Canada have recognized, bilingual children are more likely to develop a comprehensive understanding of the structure of a language, an important skill for verbal communication and development of verbal task orientation. Click here to read more.
- Exposing a child to a community supportive of second languages contributes to a positive self-image. Click here to read more.
- Speaking two languages enhances the brain’s ability to respond to sound. Click here to read more.
- Becoming bilingual makes a child a global citizen in a polyglot world. Despite the majority of United States citizens speaking only language (a situation sadly echoed by me…), much of the world is more apt to speak multiple languages both in their personal and professional lives. Exposing a child to a bilingual lifestyle opens significantly more avenues and capabilities wherever life leads them. Click here to read more.
To this day I continue to regret being pretty much unilingual despite being raised by a Spanish professor. (I know I know, I was that stubborn as a child…) So, those of you who are monoglots like me, let’s strive to do better by our kids! 🙂