Do you think elementary school age children should be taught a 2nd language in school?

Answer 1

Yes. Most other countries teach their children a second language. Also, it will be easier to learn at a younger age.

Answer 2

It depends on the situation. If they are not native speakers of the dominant local language, then they should be taught that language, but that's probably not quite what you had in mind.

Europeans and Asians have typically spent more effort on learning additional languages than Americans (North or South Americans), since the Americas are dominated by single languages (English for North America and Spanish for South America).

If a child was fluent in whatever the local tongue was, and that tongue was not English, then learning English as a 2nd language would probably be a good idea. If English is the local tongue, then the question of which language to pick for a 2nd becomes a little harder, and more a matter of individual choice.

Answer 3

Definitelly yes! In most countries of the world they do. In my country children are even taught two languages in some schools and they have only benefited from it. In fact, now we are conducting a research to find out if it would be better if children started learning second language at the age of 8 instead of 10 (the age they start now) because of many theories about younger children learning a new language faster and better.

Answer 4

I believe that an immersion program should be the method for teaching a second language for the first three years of elementary school.
Then the children would have a far easier time coming up to speed in a second language.

Answer 5

Definitely! Children learn better than adults. They seem to pick things up easier. My nieces only spoke Spanish when they were younger and it was easier for them to learn English than it was for their mom and dad. I've noticed this true in a lot of Hispanic and non-Hispanic children. The kids seem to pick the language up faster. I wish they had a 2ND language program in our school for kids. Instead they have to wait until high school to learn Spanish. At this point they already have a lot to learn to get ready for college and the real world that they don't care to learn a new language. In reality not everyone speaks English.

Answer 6

Yes. They should even start in kindergarten. I teach in an English immersion school in Taiwan so I see from experience that 'most' kids benefit from learning a language early in life.

Early in life they pick up what they need to use. After the elementary years, students tend to translate language and memorize what they need to learn so it becomes more of a rote learning. This is also useful but the early learning becomes more quickly internalized and practical.

Answer 7

Absolutely....with China joining the global economy and Latin American countries coming along as well, your child will have a definite leg up on the ignorant white trash that thinks English is the only real language by learning Mandarin or Spanish. Time to think Globally folks.

Answer 8

Yes, it would be a very nurturing experience for children because they will have the opportunity to learn about different cultures and they won't feel afraid of learning a 3rd or 4th language as if they knew only english or one language.

Answer 9

A public institution is probably not allowed to instruct any variety of faith. The belief of creation is probably not even a conception it's religion founded no longer technology. Right now exceptional the speculation of evolution is the one technology headquartered be trained of in which we acquired right here from that exist. I am a Christian and i think the hypothesis of evolution is all a gigantic lie. I'm seeing method an immoderate quantity of proof that the speculation is improper. All of the transitional fossils that experience claimed to be found are all hoaxes. None of them are authentic why do scientist inform such lies. I wish anybody could turn out those matters lies and discedit the speculation of evolution then they would ought to drop this style of be trained

Answer 10

Yeah, totally. I always wished I had learned a second language, but in public schools they didn't teach it until high school where I lived, and by then it was just too hard for me. My niece is 2 and already knows a whole bunch of Spanish just from watching "Dora"

Answer 11

Yes, it is so much easier to learn a foreign language when you are young! My oldest daughter watched a 6th grade spanish show on PBS all the time when she was 5....she recently took Spanish in school and was asked if one of her parents spoke Spanish in the home (neither of us do), because her accent was so good! Just that casual exposure made it so much easier on her later in life!