Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary schools rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language in primary schools rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

This Essay is written by BAWA IELTS FEROZEPUR.

We have followed the material published by World Linguistic Schools, The Netherlands.

Learning a foreign language plays an indispensable role in children's life. Owing to this, a few professionals believe that school-goers must start learning a foreign language at primary schools instead of secondary. Undeniably, I am of the opinion that this will bring more merits than demerits.

On the one hand, it is always fruitful to begin learning a new language since it promotes healthy development, and the many cognitive and social benefits will last a lifetime. The primary benefit is that it will give them a head start. In-depth, children who learn another language before age five use the same part of the brain to acquire that second language that they use to learn their mother tongue. The secondary useful aspect is that this concept nurtures the learners' curiosity and cultural sensitivity. In particular, children who are exposed early to other languages display more positive attitudes toward the cultures associated with those languages. 

Yet another upside is that this process boosts academic achievement. In detail, the cognitive benefits of learning a foreign language have a direct impact on a child's academic achievement. Compared to those without an additional language, multilingual children have improved reading, writing, and math skills that are beneficial in getting high scores. 

On the other hand, this idea has a handful of downsides. The first and foremost is that it may lead to confusion because some individuals believe that in the process of establishing their native tongue, the learners may be confused about acquiring novel skills. Moreover, this may also lead to cognitive overload. This happens when children will be unable to process the information as too much can become overwhelming. Another disadvantage will invite confusion that will enable a learner to mix up words in two languages and be unable to recognize which one is for which language. It leads to the compensation of using borrowed words from one language to another. It usually happens during the early stages of learning and is temporary. 

To conclude, this world of globalisation has made it mandatory to learn more than two languages to survive the cut-throat competition. Though being multilingual in primary school has a few weak points, owing to the aforementioned schools of thought, the benefits outweigh the adverse sides.