5 Ways Your Child Benefits from Learning a Second Language

Lucia Trevino, High School Foreign Language Chair at Pinecrest Academy

Children who learn a second language benefit a lot more than you’d think. The earlier one begins learning another language, the greater the benefits. It is never too early to start learning a second language, even as early as PreK3!

Here are few of the benefits:

1) Be smarter!  Learning a second language helps develop cognitive skills. Children who know two languages tend to score higher in math and language arts standardized tests, as compared to students who only know one language.

2) Be a problem solver! People who know more than one language develop creative problem solving skills. Bilingual brains are on constant mental workout while sorting through more than one language system to communicate. Although this might seem confusing, these individuals learn to plan, concentrate, multitask, and problem solve, thus increasing their executive function skills.

3) Get better jobs! In this growing global economy, more and more companies are looking for professionals who can communicate in more than one language. Bilingual people have better chances than monolingual job aspirants to get the job. In addition, such bilingual individuals are usually better paid than those who only speak one language.

4) Be nicer! Bilingual people develop empathy and tolerance towards other cultures. Learning a second language leads to understanding other people’s customs and points of view. This builds empathy and tolerance in a way that we learn to appreciate and embrace diversity.

5) Stay sharp longer!  Due to the fact that the bilingual brain is in constant mental workout, people who know more than one language are prone to prevent age-related mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.

These are a handful of the numerous benefits of learning a second language! When making educational decisions for your child, consider schools that teach a second language beginning in PreK or Kindergarten. Did we leave any benefits out of this blog post? If so, please add them to the comment section.

Sources:
5 mind-blowing facts about learning a second language as a child

The benefits of learning a foreign language at a young age - https://www.kumon.co.uk/blog/the-benefits-of-learning-a-foreign-language-at-a-young-age/

Lucia Trevino is the High School Foreign Language Chair at Pinecrest Academy, where she has been teaching Spanish for 12 years. Prior to her time at Pinecrest, she worked at the American Institute of Monterrey, a bilingual school in Mexico, where English is taught to Spanish speakers in a full immersion school setting. She was a Teacher, Curriculum and Media Supervisor and Academic Support Coordinator.

Spanish is taught at Pinecrest beginning in PreK3, and Latin and Spanish are taught in high school.