Week 5 Post 1

It wasn’t until I read Chapter 9 that I realized the importance of teaching young children two languages.  Despite the debate about whether or not children should only know the language native to their country, I believe that it is very beneficial to learn two languages. Unfortunately, when I was child my parents never introduced me to any other language besides English. This might have been one of the many reasons why I struggled with the Spanish classes I took in high school. In earlier chapters, we read and discussed how learning begins at a young age. Learning two languages at a young age is just the same. It is much easier for a two to six year to learn two languages than trying to learn another language during the teenage years. I think it’s fascinating that neuroscience found that young children who are bilingual store both languages in the same area of their brains and can still manage to separate them from each other. This separation allows them not to get confused between the languages when they are talking to someone in just one of the languages. However, people who learn another language later on in life often struggle to keep the two languages separate. On occasion they may have to translate out loud and speak slower to make sure they are getting the right information (Berger, p. 250). Overall I agree that children and people should have to be able to speak the same language of the country they live in. Yet, I believe that it is very important for children to be able to learn and understand other languages. By learning two or more languages at a young age, children are improving their cognitive skills and will they will also better their futures since they will be able to communicate with wide variety people. Even though my parents never taught me another language, I definitely want my future children to learn more than one language.