Silver Chips Online – Amalia Chiapperino
“So many different languages are spoken daily in the D.C. metropolitan area that anyone living there can attest that knowing a second language is a very useful skill…schools are making it more difficult for kids to become proficient in the language they’re learning by waiting until middle school to introduce foreign languages into the curriculum…Countless linguistic researchers have concluded that children who are exposed to foreign languages at a younger age learn the language with more ease…Martha Abbott, the executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), stresses the advantages that younger students possess over kids who begin learning languages later in their school career. “The advantage for younger learners is that they have the ability to mimic closely the native pronunciation and intonation of a new language. In addition, literacy skills that are being developed in the native language transfer to the learning of the new language,” she said in an interview…Abbot insists that “it is critical that foreign language instruction be available to all students throughout their PK-12 academic experience. Knowing other languages and understanding other cultures is a 21st century skill set for American students as they prepare to live and work in a global society.””(more)