Learning A Second Language Begins At An Early Age
In a prior posting, Your Child’s Amazing Brain, we talked about the importance of early activities on brain development. In some ways this is no more evident than with language development.
It may seem somewhat obvious that all children, unless they have a disability, are born with the capacity to learn any language. And many of us have seen how quickly young children can pick up multiple languages and how challenging it can be for adults to learn a second language—and especially to develop proper pronunciation. In fact, a 2007 paper by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child called “The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture“ indicated that, “If education policies were guided by what we know about the development of the brain, second-language learning would be a preschool priority.”
Children learn a new word in the Mandarin Immersion program
This past week when I was in Chicago, I had the opportunity to visit a unique dual language Mandarin Immersion program for preschool and pre-kindergarten children. This innovative program is currently offered at select KinderCare Learning Centers in Chicago, California, and Oregon. The program was adapted from a celebrated program in Singapore, known as Pat’s Schoolhouse, which was founded by the internationally recognized educator, Patricia Koh, more than 30 years ago.
The program I saw was at the KinderCare Learning Center in Schaumburg, just outside of Chicago, under the leadership of the center director, Cathy Veller. This wonderful program began about a year ago at this center. The class is led by two fully qualified teachers, and promotes school readiness skills. However, what makes this program unique is that one teacher, Wen Liu, only speaks to the children in Mandarin, while the other teacher, Donna DePrycker, only speaks to the children in English. In fact, Wen Liu had previously trained directly with Pat Koh before coming to the United States.
Children in the Mandarin Immersion program
Children in the program come from a wide variety backgrounds, some whose families speak Mandarin, while other families simply recognize the importance of early language development and, in particular, the future importance of fluency in Mandarin in our global economy. And the classroom instruction is anything but rote. Children are exposed to learning a second language in a meaningful way, through conversation, song, and activities.
It was great fun to see the children, some who had only started the program a few weeks ago, singing and speaking in Mandarin. I must admit, it was a bit humbling and made me wish there were a program like this one available when my children were young.
For parents of children of any age, but especially the youngest ones, I encourage you to help your children have exposure to a second language. Remember, although it is never too late to learn a new language, as the pattern of neural connections in the brain become more established, it is more difficult for the circuitry to be altered. My advice to you is to start them learning languages while they’re young. You’ll be glad you did and so will they!
Uncategorized | Elanna | 
July 13, 2009 2:13 pm
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By Andrew Pass, July 15, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Many Jewish day schools have long espoused the importance of immersing young children in the learning of both Hebrew and English. Interestingly, one of the leaders of the day school movement has argued that it is better to push young children and elementary school students to learn to speak Hebrew than it is to push middle school students. The reason for this is because something happens cognitively at about twelve that strengthens critical thinking skills. But, it’s easier to think critically in a first language than it is to think critically in a second language, even if the language is known well.
http://www.lessontech.blogspot.com
By Grace, July 15, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
Hi, it was great to see your article and see my little girl in the picture. My daughter has been in the class for about 3-1/2 months and I simply cannot believe how much mandarin she had learn. Our family is kinda unique as I am chinese and my husband is Korean. However, we spoke english at home all the time. So my daugther was never expose to mandarin. In fact, I am not a fluent Mandarin speaker myself as my mother dialect is actually cantonese. I learned mandarin during my oversea assignments for work. I still remember the first time I saw her singing in Mandarin during circle time. She had only been in the class for about a month, and there she was, singing a mandarin song and acting out the song all by herself in the middle of the circle. I was completely floored at the progress she has made. Thank you for bringing such an amazing program to Kindercare. We LOVE Ms Wen and Ms. Donna and Ms. Cathy as they really love our child and guide their young minds. Thanks!!!