It is widely accepted now that one of the best things a parent can do for their child is to foster their children's Spanish development, or the development of any second language for that matter. The benefits of a child knowing a second language are numerous. Among them are:
Higher standardized test scores
Better language retention, often for a lifetime
Mastery of language
As well as simply the benefits of knowing the world's third most common language. As the world becomes more and more globalized, knowing a second language becomes almost a necessity.
Although almost all parents know the benefits of learning a second language, they get confused about when and how to teach the language. This is one of the most critical parts of helping your child to learn a second language!
How The Brain Best Learns Language
Think about how your child learned his or her first language. Without any training, and without knowing any other language at all (obviously), your child was conversational by age 2! That's pretty amazing.
How was this possible? Simple -- through a process called language immersion!
The human brain is best wired for pattern solving and learning from ages 0 to 12 (especially around ages 0 to 5). This is exactly what language learning is.
Because your child was surrounded by their first language all day and all night, the brain adapted and forced itself to learn the language. No training necessary!
How To Teach A Second Language
Do not -- this is very important -- put your young child through language classes. Language schools will only make your child despise language learning.
The best way to learn a second language is how the first language was learned: language immersion. Surround your child with Spanish as much as you can.
Invite friends over who speak Spanish, and have them speak Spanish to your child.
Make sure your baby sitter speaks Spanish, and have him or her speak only Spanish to your children. This is probably one of the best ways for your child to learn Spanish!
Speak Spanish to your children yourself! If you don't know Spanish, don't worry. Take this opportunity to learn some! You can have enough basic Spanish down after just a week or two that your child can still benefit. Then just learn along with your child.
Once your child is a little more advanced in the language, have him or her watch cartoons in Spanish.
Just find ways to immerse your child in the language!
So What Now?
Most parents know that learning a second language like Spanish is a great idea, but they never take the next step. If you take an active interest in your children's Spanish learning process, then you are heads and tails above most other parents.
Start now! Start immersing your child in a second language today! Good luck!
The top-performing students in American schools today are bilingual. Find out for FREE how to get your child on the same path to success learning Spanish. |
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