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Early learning of languages gives kids great start
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Learning a second language early on will give children a great start in preparing for a global future, linguists said at a recent summit in Beijing.
Renowned linguists from around the world gathered at Peking University in Beijing to discuss topics such as the most effective ways for children to learn languages and how technology is changing the way languages are studied.
The linguists were from top institutions — Cambridge, Harvard, Lomonosov Moscow State and Peking universities.
The early September international summit was partly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of EF China, a leading international education company.
“It’s clear that children have an advantage learning languages early on,” said Cambridge University’s Henriette Hendriks.
“If people take a look at the process of children’s language learning, they will discover that children pick up language quickly. Basically, children can master a language in four years or so.”
All children experience the same steps.
At infancy, babies can only cry and make other sounds. The process probably lasts for six to seven months. Babies start to learn pronunciation at this stage.
At around 10 months, children are able to identify the words and sounds they hear very well. At the age of 1 year to around 1 year and 3 months, most children speak their first words. At 2 years old, children can master 100 to 200 words, and by the age of 6, children can master 14,000 words.
At 3, normally kids can understand the structures and sequence of sentences, including the placement and the form of words.
Most children that Hendriks surveyed are learning at least one other language. They may have started to learn two languages since they were born. Usually, they can master the two languages as fluently as their native language if they have optimal conditions, such as each of his or her parents speaking at least one of the languages, or the parents speak only one language but the family lives in another country with the other language as the native language. In other words, they must be provided with a natural environment for language learning.
English now penetrates Chinese people’s lives. Ten years ago, primary school students began to learn English at the third grade. Now, parents send their children to learn English at preschool.
Chinese learners spent more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion) in language learning per year, according the EF English Proficiency Index Report. The lucrative market has attracted many English learning companies, such as Disney English, EF and WSE.
At the summit, the professors looked at which advantages children have in learning a foreign language.
First, their brains are more flexible and new things can be fully utilized. Second, unlike adults, children need not worry about life issues such as making money, looking after a baby or fixing a car, so the environment for them to learn languages is relative pure. They can focus on learning.
“Adults have preconceptions in their brains. They will restrain themselves, doubting what’s the right thing to do. Children are different. Generally speaking, the most important thing is whether children have enough internal motivation to drive learning,” Hendriks said.
Internal motivation
“This is also what we need to help children improve. The internal motivation in learning a second language is totally different from the one while learning a native language. Children have a very strong motivation when learning a first language. The question that needs to be put forward is whether we can influence the motivation in children or not.”
The relationship between technology, science and education was a hot topic. Some people have expressed concerns about how far technology can go, and how the effects of technology can be balanced.
Professionals from EF said they were optimistic about the power of science and technology in the future.
“We can, for example, collect information about our students, and implement technological methods to individualize teaching. The traditional teaching method has little relevance to individuals — it is teacher oriented. We want to transfer this method into individual teaching and learning processes. Without the development of science and technology, this kind of personalized learning experience cannot be realized,” said EF China CEO Bill Fisher.
“For example, we can integrate the learning process into students’ lives in every minute and every second through mobile technology. This teaching method is unprecedented. Even though we have concerns about the role technology is playing in education, we firmly believe technology will bring Earth-shaking changes to education in the next 20 years.”
At the event, the CEO also announced that the company is changing its brand name in China, “EF English First,” to its global name, “EF Education First” to better reflect EF’s diverse education programs.
EF Education First was established in 1965 with the mission to break down barriers of language, culture and geography. It now has 460 schools and offices in over 50 countries and regions.
Process of children’s language learning
10m: identify the words and sounds they hear very well
1 year-1 year and 3 months: speak their first words
2 years: master 100-200 words
3 years: understand the structures and sequence of sentences
6 years: master 14,000 words
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