Goethe once said: Every new language will open a completely new door.
Did you know that learning a new language will improve your first language?
People are often being afraid of their children learning a new language at the same time when using another language in the school. Will my child differentiate the languages? Will my child feel confident in both (or more) languages? Maybe it will be too confusing for them? Maybe it’s too much?
The studies have shown that learning of the new language improves your brain size, health and function. A new language is developing understanding of grammar in your own language, creativity, your vocabulary and a culture of another country. Very often we think that we don’t understand the people when they speak English but are from other countries. It is because we don’t know their background, their culture and the way of speaking. Learning a new language will help us to understand and to enhance our own opportunities in life. A language will open many doors and create lots of opportunities for our children in their future. Its also well known, that children learn the languages much faster than adults, they pick up everything like a sponge. We should encourage, motivate and support the children. And we should never forget the importance of the cultural aspect when teaching or learning a new language. And in times of globalization we can not just ignore it. Nowadays bilingualism has become an important part of our lives.
In my experience, I had students who could speak up to 5 languages! Some could speak even more! I can’t say enough how useful it is to have another language. Its normal for the children to mix the words and grammar at the beginning, but they will differentiate the languages later, they always do. It will help the children to feel more confident and communicate with much more children, find new friends, express their thoughts and feelings.
By Valeria Song
Head of German
