During childhood, the brain is more receptive to language learning than at any other time in a person’s life and starting foreign or second language learning early sets the stage for a child to develop advanced levels of proficiency in more than one language. Bilingualism is also increasingly being seen as a necessary 21st century skill set. Apart from the extensively researched and recognised cognitive benefits from learning more than one language, doing so as a young child dramatically improves the development of a near-native pronunciation and language intonation in the second language.

More and more parents are accepting that knowledge of a language other than English (LOTE) can also enrich their child’s understanding and acceptance of other cultures, and the attendant future job opportunities it can bring in a world being brought ever closer together by increasing globalisation. So it’s no surprise that they are choosing to raise their child/ren as bilingual and/or give them the opportunity to learn a foreign language.

However, as we all know, young children can sometimes be notoriously difficult to “read” and so – to ensure the best chance of success to achieve their bilingual goals for their child – it’s helpful for the parents of these ‘little linguists’ to understand their child’s language learning progression and the stages associated with second language acquisition. 

The current theories of second language acquisition are based on research in a variety of language related fields such as linguistics and neurolinguistics, psychology, sociology and anthropology and language researchers have developed a GENERAL outline that helps to explain the process that second language learners go through.  (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Krashen)

Anyone who has been around children who are learning to talk knows that the process happens in stages—first understanding, then one-word utterances, then two-word phrases, and so on. Similarly, children learning a second language move through a number of predictable stages:

… AND your first lesson is FREE!

But don’t just take our word for it … check out these videos of our language clubs in action … they speak for themselves!

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Lessons make use of FUN games, crafts and activites

5 Reasons to Learn Mandarin Chinese

• China is one of the world’s oldest and richest continuous cultures, over 5000 years old.
• China is the second largest economy in the world. and one of largest trading partners of Australasia.
• Chinese is spoken by over 1 billion people around the world, (about one fifth of the global population) making it the most widely spoken first language in the world.
• China plays a major role in world affairs and economies and international businesses prefer to hire people who speak more than one language.
• Even a basic knowledge of Mandarin Chinese will lend those people an edge in competitive job markets.

A recent experiment / study, conducted by two New Zealand universities for “encouraging active play” in school playgrounds, turned up some unsurprising results.  The detrimental effects of the Westernised, and increasingly pervasive, “cotton wool” approach to child safety, and the impact of all these rules and regulations on our kids, is noticeable in the behaviour that is manifested on the playground.  

If we’re to be honest, there probably wasn’t too much need for the study in the first place. The past experience of our educators, and sound judgement rather than “knee jerk reactions”, should be enough when it comes to the Health & Safety regulations that are put in place in schools.

So, despite our overly litigious westernised society, (which is the reason so often given for the regulations), it’s always a good idea to let common sense prevail when it comes to raising those “little bundles”! 

Have your say:  Do we worry too much about Health & Safety?

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Here’s an excerpt from a recent online article about the experiment.

Friday 31st January 2014 sees the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Horse.

The Chinese Zodiac, known as Shēngxiào, is based on a 12-year cycle and each year in that cycle is related to an animal sign. These animal signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Each animal is associated with an “earthly branch” such as fire, water, metal or wood.

It’s believed that the animals in the Chinese zodiac calendar originated from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), during which they were used to count years in the same way as the modern Christian calendar.

Are you a horse?

Horses symbolize graciousness, dignity, momentum and firmness. In Chinese culture, people born in the Year of the Horse are regarded as intelligent, witty, elegant, eloquent speakers and charming. Their excellent communicaton skills and intolerance of failure usually sees them succeed in life.