Some people think it is better for children to begin to learn a foreign language at primary school than at secondary school. What‘s your opinion? Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages ?
In this modern century, it is more common that a second language starts in high school curriculum. On this subject, some people hold an opinion that second languages benefit more when they are introduced at primary classes. I believe that at some extent, introduction of a non-native language at primary level would have more advantages.
First and foremost, children can learn one new language more easily once they are exposed to that in younger ages. For instance, studies in US state that brain development is at peak level in children under 10 years of old. Thus, at those ages, children would grab the basics of a language more profoundly than in any other ages. From this, it is clear that teaching a new language from very young age can bring maximum benefits.
On the other hand, it can be argued that a new language would be an extra burden for young children. To be precise, handling other subjects and a foreign language may trouble children in education. In fact, by taking measures not to overload syllabus can prevent this. For example, in Kerala, India, English is being taught at primary level, and to ensure hassle free education, authorities introduce complex subjects such as science only at later years of schooling. As a result, children would not get overwhelmed by subjects.
To conclude, teaching new languages from a very young age have more advantages. However, to ensure that benefits, we should take some alternate measures to tackle any side effects. After analyzing the subject, I firmly believe that schools should start second language from primary levels for optimal results
task 2.3
Re: task 2.3
robin20y wrote:Some people think it is better for children to begin to learn a foreign language at primary school than at secondary school. What‘s your opinion? Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages ?
In this modern century, it is more common for students to begin learning a foreign language at high school. On this subject, some people feel that second languages are more easily learnt when they are introduced at primary school. I believe that to some extent, the introduction of a non-native language at primary level has more advantages.
First and foremost, children can learn a new language more easily if they are exposed to it when they are younder. For instance, studies in the US show that brain development is at peak levels in children under 10 years old. Thus, at those ages, children would grasp the basics of a language more profoundly than at any other age. From this, it is clear that learning a new language from a very young age can bring maximum benefits.
On the other hand, it can be argued that a new language would be an extra burden for young children. To be precise, handling other subjects and a foreign language may cause unnecessary stress. However, taking measures not to overload the syllabus can prevent this. For example, in Kerala, India, English is being taught at primary level, and to ensure hassle free education, authorities introduce complex subjects such as science only during later years of schooling. As a result, children are not overwhelmed by too many subjects.
To conclude, teaching new languages from a very young age have more advantages. However, to ensure these benefits, we should take some measures to tackle any side effects. After analyzing the subject, I firmly believe that schools should start second language teaching at primary levels for optimal results