Have you ever asked yourself the question, how many languages can a child learn at the same time due to the prevailing circumstances, or if it became possible to learn a foreign language? Is it too late to learn a foreign language? Can a child learn many languages at the same time? In general, what are the cognitive advantages of learning more than one language?
Experts have proved that a growing child can learn 3-4 languages from early childhood (0-5) and at the same time will not experience discomfort, and in his head everything will be clear as bell.
When the child should begin to “learn” or say to comprehend the second / third, etc. language?
In the early stage of life, when the child is at the stage of learning the first language, the child will use the same brain tissue for all languages. But if you start learning the language with your child later, different parts of the brain will be involved, because the part of the brain that is responsible for processing the language matures according to a certain schedule and we know this schedule very clearly.
Some parts of the brain remain "open to development and comprehension" throughout life - for example, vocabulary, and some parts on the contrary - fit into the development schedule. Our brain goes to a stable processing ability of the language and then stops working in the "cognitive mode", since it has already reached a stable level of understanding.
There are several programs in Europe that allow kids and older children to immerse themselves in the language environment, and these programs really have a very positive effect on children and their development. We all know that learning a language at an older age, when we already know our first language (and learned it in school), is a completely different task, which is much more difficult to cope with.
How strong should the influence of language be?
An answer is for certain depends on your goal: do you want your child to communicate freely or will it be enough for him to understand what the conversation is about?
Systematic classes are more important than the duration of these classes. The human brain does not work with quantity, but it works with quality. Thus, regular systematic interaction with "stable users in various contexts that are rich and diverse in themselves" will help your child learn to communicate fluently in a foreign language. This means that school alone is not enough to speak a foreign language fluently. This knowledge must be enriched with "cultural material, linguistic material, cinema, etc." You must understand that it is quite expensive financially. Therefore, knowledge of financial literacy should be added to language development. This will save you time and nerves in the future.
Will the child always have one dominant language?
It all depends on the language in which their friends speak, as well as in what language they communicate in the family. Also, when choosing a language for communication, children are quite economical. The concept of economy is a tendency or tendency, to which all living organisms are prone, can still be called the “principle of least effort”, which is the tendency to the minimum amount of effort required to achieve maximum results so that nothing is wasted. If children know that their parents understand all the languages in which they should speak, then they will most likely give preference to the language that dominates in their social context (country of residence, school, etc.) in order to use the "minimum energy for maximum results. "
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