The Optimal Age for Learning a Second Language
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Specialists are unanimous in their opinion: exposing a child to two languages from birth is the best way for the child to become bilingual.
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In fact, this language exposure can even begin during pregnancy! According to a report on early childhood development by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the United States, the capacity to learn a language is optimal from the 34th week of pregnancy until the age of 12 months, during the period when the brain synapses are forming.
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Specialists agree that there is a decline in the ability to learn a second language after about the age of 6 or 7.
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Myth:
Some people claim that it is better to wait for a child to learn the basics of a language well, before making the child learn another language. This way, we think that the child will be able to “transfer” the knowledge learned to the new language.
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Reality:
Even though the child could be learning a second language well at an early age, by not exposing the child to that language we could be depriving the child of several years of optimal learning.
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Myth
: Early bilingualism delays the language development of a child.
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Reality:
This is a common myth that follows research dating back to the 1920s and 1930s which was later proved wrong. In actuality, if a child has language difficulties or delays in development, those will be observed in both languages. Research indicates that the pace of language acquisition is relatively similar between monolingual and bilingual children. However, don’t forget that the bilingual child is learning two language systems at the same time, with two sets of sounds (e.g., the 36 sounds of French, or the 44 sounds of English), two sets of vocabulary and two grammatical systems. This requires a lot of analysis which may give the impression that the bilingual child is slower. In addition, if one language is more dominant than the other, this may simply just reflect a greater exposure to that language.
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The first words usually spoken at around the age of 12 months are preceded by thousands of moments of non-verbal communication (gestures, smiles) and verbal communication (little noises, listening, vocalizations) between the child and his family circle. (Jean-Adolphe Rondal)
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