25 Reasons to Learn another Language

      1. Foreign Language study creates more positive attitudes and less prejudice toward people who are different.
      2. Analytical skills improve when students study a foreign language.
      3. Business skills plus foreign language skills make an employee more valuable in the marketplace.
      4. Dealing with another culture enables people to gain a more profound understanding of their own culture.
      5. Creativity is increased with the study of foreign languages.
      6. Graduates often cite foreign language courses as some of the most valuable courses in college because of the communication skills developed in the process.
      7. International travel is made easier and more pleasant by knowing a foreign language.
      8. Skills like problem-solving, dealing with abstract concepts, are increased when you study a foreign language.
      9. Foreign language study enhances one’s opportunities in government, business, medicine, law, technology, military, industry, marketing, etc.
      10. A second language improves your skills and grades in math and English and on the SAT and GRE.
      11. Four out of five new jobs in the US are created as a result of foreign trade.
      12. Foreign languages provide a competitive edge in career choices: one is able to communicate in a second language.
      13. Foreign language study enhances listening skills and memory.
      14. One participates more effectively and responsibly in a multi-cultural world if one knows another language.
      15. Your marketable skills in the global economy are improved if you master another language.
      16. Foreign language study offers a sense of the past: culturally and linguistically.
      17. The study of a foreign tongue improves the knowledge of one’s own language: English vocabulary skills increase.
      18. The study of foreign languages teaches and encourages respect for other peoples: it fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature.
      19. Foreign languages expand one’s view of the world, liberalize one’s experiences, and make one more flexible and tolerant.
      20. Foreign languages expand one’s worldview and limit the barriers between people: barriers cause distrust and fear.
      21. Foreign language study leads to an appreciation of cultural diversity.
      22. As immigration increases, we need to prepare for changes in American society.
      23. One is at a distinct advantage in the global market if one is as bilingual as possible.
      24. Foreign languages open the door to art, music, dance, fashion, cuisine, film, philosophy, science…
      25. Foreign language study is simply part of a very basic liberal education: to “educate” is to lead out, to lead out of confinement and narrowness and darkness.
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  • FREE Language lessons at you Childcare Centre or Montessori

    • 2 Free lessons when a childcare/Montessori/daycare signs up with us for a term. T&C apply. *Only available at participating locations. The promotion ends on 28/02/2020. Contact us today!

       

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      Enquiry From Childcare Centers

       

      In this global economy parents no longer have the luxury of asking themselves “should my child learn a second language”, the question they should be asking themselves is “when should I introduce the second language and what should that language be?”

       

      “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way – Frank Smith”

      In fact across the world more and more children are learning a second language at home, and the art of learning this language is simply a part of growing up.We know that introducing a second language to children makes them better thinkers, more effective communicators and, more importantly, makes them global citizens. LCF Fun Language has been educating children across the world for over 40 years.  When it comes to teaching a language LCF uses implicit and explicit teaching methods to make the learning fun!

       

      If, like many parents, who are busy parent wondering when to find the time to introduce another activity, LCF, in partnership with Childcare Providers bring language learning to the centres allowing your child to learn with their friends in a space they are comfortable and confident in.

      If you would like any further information, please visit our website https://lcfclubs.com.au/childcare

       

      Our latest childcare newsletter.

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  • $100 Language Rebate – A Step towards becoming a Global Citizen

    In the last six or seven years, the Australian Government has been pushing towards introducing a second language into schools. While some schools have managed to integrate language into the curriculum, many schools have not been able to introduce it as efficiently and effectively as they would have liked to.

     

    In this global economy parents no longer have the luxury of asking themselves “should my child learn a second language”, the question they should be asking themselves is “when should I introduce the second language and what should that language be?”

     

    (more…)

  • In the last six or seven years, the Australian Government has been pushing towards introducing a second language into schools. […]

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  • Early Language Exposure and Middle School Language and IQ: Implications for Primary Prevention

    • Recent advances in neuroscience have led to an increased appreciation of the effects of early experience on the brain, with ramifications for language, cognitive, and social-emotional development.1,2 Language development has been especially well studied, with extensive research documenting relations between early exposure to adult language and children’s language capacities through early elementary school.36

      The authors of “Language Experience in the Second Year of Life Predicts Language Outcomes in Late Childhood” extend existing research by using a naturalistic methodology based on analysis of full-day audio recordings (Language ENvironment Analysis, LENA) to demonstrate long-term associations between early language exposure and subsequent child language and IQ through late middle school.7 Gilkerson et al7 found that the strongest predictor was language-based interaction, with relations (less robust) also found for quantity of language exposure. By showing that parent-child verbal interactions in early childhood predict critically important outcomes through age 14 years (∼10 years later), the authors of this study have made a major contribution to this topic, with strong implications for American Academy of Pediatrics policy and clinical practice recommendations.810With these findings, the authors also add to the preponderance of research in which the importance of supporting families toward common goals of developmental progress and educational achievement is demonstrated.6,11,12

      The early environment influences every aspect of child development; in addition to effects on cognitive and language outcomes, recent work has also shown that parent-child verbal interactions also have effects on social-emotional development.13 This speaks to the importance of early language exposure in every domain of early learning and also to the agency with which children elicit stimulation from their caregivers and their environment; children learn through interactions but also use language to elicit and extend the interactions which help them learn. Like language skills, social-emotional skills and self-regulation play vital roles in early learning and school success.14,15

      The authors speak strongly to the importance of interaction during the 18- to 24-month period of “language explosion”; findings suggest that programs seeking to foster language skills in young children should pay careful attention to the context in which young children are exposed to language during this crucial period. Promotion of language-rich and emotionally positive interactions should be the goal, with play and reading aloud offering contexts for parents to provide not only enriched vocabulary but also opportunities and prompts for enriched interactions.1619 In particular, study findings support “primary prevention” of disparities in development and school readiness, beginning early in life before their onset. This is a fundamentally different approach than that of treatment initiatives, which, although also essential, are designed to address problems after their emergence. Importantly, primary prevention can be used to provide an opportunity for population-level delivery across the socioeconomic spectrum, with potential for low cost and cascading impacts across the life span.20

      Because primary care visits and immunizations are especially frequent in the first 2 years of life, a period in which children are not necessarily enrolled in other programs or institution-based care, pediatric primary health care offers a promising and low-cost platform for universal, population-level prevention through relationship- and strengths-based strategies.20 The Reach Out and Read (ROR) program, in which primary care providers offer anticipatory guidance about and modeling of reading aloud (along with developmentally appropriate children’s books) at health supervision visits from birth to 5, is the most established scaled program, reaching 4.7 million children annually.21 ROR emphasizes dialogic reading techniques in provider training and in parent materials, using the books to foster language-rich interactions. Families receiving ROR report more frequent reading with their children and more positive attitudes toward reading aloud, and children in the intervention have shown improved vocabularies.22,23

      A number of other primary prevention initiatives use pediatric primary care to support language interactions through shared book reading and interactive and pretend play. One well-studied example is the Video Interaction Project (VIP), which enhances ROR by adding a parenting coach at each primary care visit who briefly video records parents and children engaging together around a book or toy provided by the program and then immediately reviews the video with the family.24 Positive, sustained impacts of the VIP on relational health broadly and in child development have been shown in studies.25,26 Additional examples include Healthy Steps,27 Thirty Million Words,28 Bridging the Word Gap,29Smart Beginnings (links the VIP in primary care to home visiting through Family Check Up),30 Sit Down and Play,31 and City’s First Readers (links to community partners, eg, libraries).32

      In the study by Gilkerson et al,7 it is shown that patterns of language exposure established early in life are associated with trajectories of child language and IQ through late middle school. These findings are especially remarkable given the heterogeneity of children’s experiences as they grow up. The importance of language-based interactions for developmental outcomes across many important domains adds weight to the urgency of universal primary prevention programs, which will help parents establish positive patterns during the crucial early developmental windows.

      Footnotes

        • Accepted July 20, 2018.
      • Address correspondence to Alan L. Mendelsohn, MD, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital Center, 550 First Ave, OBV, Room A519, New York, NY 10016. E-mail: alan.mendelsohn@nyumc.org
      • Opinions expressed in these commentaries are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics or its Committees.

      • FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

      • FUNDING: NIH grant R01 HD076390. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

      • POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Dr Klass is national medical director of Reach Out and Read (no financial compensation). Dr Mendelsohn is the principal investigator of studies of Reach Out and Read and the Video Interaction Project (no financial compensation).

      • COMPANION PAPER: A companion to this article can be found online at www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2017-4276.

      References

      1. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2018/09/06/peds.2018-2234 by Alan L. MendelsohnPerri Klass
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  • The earlier the better for learning languages

    • Language learning is dependent upon the processing of sounds.Every human language contains about 40 different phonemes (language sounds). At birth, infant brains contain the unique capacity to recognize every phoneme from every language. Before they have even left the womb, babies’ brains begin to process and categorize the sounds of their parent’s voice.

       

      Studies done on infants have shown that they are born not only able to recognize the difference between their mother’s language and another language, but with the ability to differentiate between other languages as well.

       

      However, between 6 and 12 months of age, infants who live in monolingual households begin to specialize in the phonemes of their native language. By their first birthdays, babies begin to lose the ability to hear the differences between foreign phonemes.

       

      The optimal window for language acquisition appears to be from birth to around age 5, when the majority of neural connections in the brain are still “plastic.” During this time, there is hypothetically no limit to the number of languages a child can acquire (although for practical purposes, it has been suggested that more than four is probably an unrealistic expectation for a toddler).

       

      If language acquisition starts early enough, children can, in effect, have more than one “first” language. That increases the probability they will be able to speak fluently and without an accent in multiple tongues. Not only can very young children excel in multiple languages at once, but they excel at code-switching, a phrase which refers to the mixing of languages and speech patterns in conversation. After age 7, code-switching becomes more difficult, as does speaking in a non-native language sans accent.

       

      Language has the power to shape the worldview and identity of its users. Children who are proficient in more than one language have been shown to be adept at navigating a diverse range of social and cultural settings. In addition, being multilingual has many cognitive benefits; studies have shown that adolescent polyglots have longer attention spans, are better at multitasking, and can reason abstractly with more ease than their monolingual peers. As they grow older, being multilingual helps children excel in school, opens an opportunity for foreign travel, and makes them valuable employees for a vast range of careers.

       

      In an increasingly global and multicultural world, knowing multiple languages is an invaluable skill. The moral of the story: If you can, start introducing your child to languages as soon as possible. If you can, speak multiple languages at home or send them to an immersive day care. Trust me, they will thank you for it later.

       

      Leah Folpe is a senior at Mayo High School. To respond to an opinion column, send an email to life@postbulletin.com.

       

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