Most parents know the benefits of teaching their children a second language, like Spanish. They know about the higher test scores, the better mental retention.
And of course they keep in mind the benefits of knowing a second language to their children's job future.
Where most parents get lost, though, is in how to teach their child Spanish. In fact, sadly, this is where most parents take the wrong path!
I want to go over an interesting "kindergarten Spanish" experiment with you that will show how the human brain best learns a new language.
The Kindergarten Spanish Experiment
A little while back, there was a flurry of research that showed the benefits of "language immersion" techniques, especially in younger children.
This research showed that the human brain best learns when it is surrounded by -- immersed in -- something. This process works best from ages 0 to 12.
Most children become their formal schooling around age 5, in kindergarten. So researchers set off to see how easily they could use their research and teach children a second language.
The experiment was simple:
The children followed the exact same lesson plan that any other kindergartener would follow.
The only difference: their teacher alternated between speaking Spanish and English.
The children did not receive heavy Spanish training before hand. Their teacher just started teaching in Spanish.
Kindergarten is the time children learn about reading and writing, so the teacher simply introduced them to Spanish in the same way she introduced them to English.
The Results of the Kindergarten Spanish Experiment
Every student that year "graduated" kindergarten able to speak at least basic Spanish.
Pretty amazing considering all of them entered speaking only English.
The Take Home Message of the Kindergarten Spanish Experiment
The human brain is wired to learn through language immersion. Research has proved this over and over.
If you want to teach your child Spanish, simply immerse her in the language whenever possible!
Speak Spanish at home. If you don't know Spanish, learn along with your child.
Hire a baby sitter that speaks Spanish.
When your child is more advanced, have her watch Spanish cartoons.
The brain will subconsciously learn Spanish if given the right materials.
The kindergarten Spanish experiment has opened a lot of parents' eyes. Now I ask that you take the next step and do what the researchers did: apply the years worth of study on your own child and invest in her future.
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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