Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school.
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
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It is common to see parents today send their children to learn foreign languages at early ages, especially when it comes to English, the most popular language in the world. Some educationists believe that it is better to do so before they enter secondary schools. I completely agree with them.
Human beings acquire most of their language abilities when they are children because their brains have not been occupied by too much knowledge and are always ready for new things, just like a piece of white paper that is available for anything to be written on. Early exposure to foreign languages can make learning easier, and adults cannot expect to learn as effectively as children do. The reason is that each language has its own logic to follow when used, which is formed during early ages. If one person has been a proficient user of his or her mother tongue, the way of thinking and expressing has been restricted to it and is hard to be changed. Consequently, he or she will have greater difficulty in adapting to another type of logic of language than those who are in their formative period of life. In my case, I started learning English at secondary school and had to take more efforts than my peers who began much earlier.
However, it is a fact that learning a foreign language early has its drawbacks. Primary school students have had plenty of courses to study and tests to pass, and foreign language classes may put more stress on them. Furthermore, teaching foreign languages requires certain approaches and techniques that can arouse and maintain students' interests and make classes more productive, as well as teachers who are good at them. In schools where such a sophisticated education system has not been established, it is not advised to introduce foreign language lessons.
To summarize, I side with the experts who are in favor of teaching foreign languages at primary schools. Although there are disadvantages in some sense, they fall far short of the benefits it will provide.
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
===========================================================
It is common to see parents today send their children to learn foreign languages at early ages, especially when it comes to English, the most popular language in the world. Some educationists believe that it is better to do so before they enter secondary schools. I completely agree with them.
Human beings acquire most of their language abilities when they are children because their brains have not been occupied by too much knowledge and are always ready for new things, just like a piece of white paper that is available for anything to be written on. Early exposure to foreign languages can make learning easier, and adults cannot expect to learn as effectively as children do. The reason is that each language has its own logic to follow when used, which is formed during early ages. If one person has been a proficient user of his or her mother tongue, the way of thinking and expressing has been restricted to it and is hard to be changed. Consequently, he or she will have greater difficulty in adapting to another type of logic of language than those who are in their formative period of life. In my case, I started learning English at secondary school and had to take more efforts than my peers who began much earlier.
However, it is a fact that learning a foreign language early has its drawbacks. Primary school students have had plenty of courses to study and tests to pass, and foreign language classes may put more stress on them. Furthermore, teaching foreign languages requires certain approaches and techniques that can arouse and maintain students' interests and make classes more productive, as well as teachers who are good at them. In schools where such a sophisticated education system has not been established, it is not advised to introduce foreign language lessons.
To summarize, I side with the experts who are in favor of teaching foreign languages at primary schools. Although there are disadvantages in some sense, they fall far short of the benefits it will provide.
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