When A Language Skips a Generation

Recently, Jodie, a parent from Melbourne, called us about the possibility of starting a Fun Languages club at her daughter’s school.

Like many parents in Australia, Jodie deeply regrets the fact that she did not learn her ancestral language (Italian) from her parents, who came over to Australia in the post-WWII period.

During that period. migrants were encouraged to forget their culture, replace their customs with those of Australia, suspend or revise their beliefs and adapt their attitudes to better assimilate into their newly adopted country's culture. To learn to speak “‘Strine”!

At Fun Languages, we speak to parents like Jodie every day. Parents who want to give their children the gift of another language, of their parents' "mother tongue". Parents who want their kids to benefit from the many opportunities that being bilingual brings.

Speak like a Native. Early Language learning is best!
It's scientifically proven that the ideal time to start learning another language is before the age of six. After this age, the window of opportunity for language learning in the brain starts to close.

Children who are exposed to early language learning are more likely to have native pronunciation, syntax and therefore proficiency.

In addition to that, kids love to learn and their brains are (what I like to call) language learning machines! As we all know, young children have few inhibitions and their main driver is communication.

Unlike adults who get caught up in what people will think and whether we have conjugated a verb correctly or not, children are fearless and, therefore very inspiring!  One of our teachers recently said to me “I am continually learning to teach through watching how children learn!"

We see it every day in our language lessons.

Brain Boosting Benefits
In the early stages of learning another language, children benefit from cognitive changes that will shape their brains for the rest of their lives. It is well accepted that bilinguals have better memory, think more creatively, make faster decisions and think more laterally. The brain is like a large muscle and the number of synapses in a child’s brain is far greater than in an adult’s, which have died off over time if not employed. Bilinguals have more synapses due to learning another language. Use it or lose it is definitely the case with the synapses in the brain.

In conclusion, the earlier the exposure to a language and the more a child can be immersed, the better the outcome. Parents can easily get involved too and
reinforcing the language as much as possible at home is FUN!

Children will soak up the new language like little sponges and most parents will love singing and learning along with their child. That will certainly be the case
for Jodie and her daughter and the rewards they will reap as a family are priceless.

First published on LCF Fun Languages Australia blog. www.lcfclubs.com.au