What are the Benefits of Learning a Second Language as a Child?
In this post: We share some sociocultural and economic advantages for children learning a new language.
As you’ve likely heard by now, learning a second language can have extensive benefits. In the past, it was believed that learning a second language at an early age confused children and impaired their development. Today, however, we know that there are many benefits of learning a second language as a child.
In “Why Bilingual is Better”, we explored the well-documented benefits of bilingualism on the brain development of a child. In this blog we center more on the sociocultural and economic benefits described in the diagram below:
When a child is growing, they go through “critical periods” of development. Essentially, these are the times in which the child’s brain is the most elastic, adapting and soaking up knowledge more easily. Children learning languages during this period will be more inclined to learn them well and easily, we call it the ‘magical window’ for language learning. So while some of the benefits, like the economic benefits, will only become apparent in adulthood, they will be much more pronounced for those who learn a second language during childhood.
The Sociocultural Benefits of Learning a Second Language at an Early Age
Language is all around us... and in this day and age, it’s hard to avoid it. Take the recent rise in K-pop music, for example, or the rise in culturally-inspired movies like Coco and Encanto. The United States is adapting to recent trends in immigration, with nearly 14% of the population representing immigrants. Along with this rise has come a spread in culture and, of course, language.
In 2019, almost a quarter of the population of the United States spoke a language other than English at home (and this number has been steadily increasing for the last 40 years)! By 2050, the U.S. Census Bureau is expecting the number of Spanish speakers in the US to reach 138 million. That’s nearly 42% of the current population, and that’s only for Spanish speakers!
On a global scale, nearly one in thirty people are living in a country different from their country of birth. This number doesn’t include immigrant-born children, who have key roles in the spread of culture and language.
As we progress into this new, exciting world, there are a few things we can do to help our children adapt. One of the most effective (and fun!) of these is learning a new language. While it may take some effort, there are several benefits of learning a new language that could help your child socially:
#1: Children Learning Two Languages at Once Have Increased Cultural Awareness
When you think of culture, what do you think of? Do you think of music, like the Spanish Flamenco? Do you think of Italian Renaissance art? Maybe you think of your favorite Chinese restaurant in town or the recent resurgence of Japanese anime.
While these are all valid common cultural practices, have you ever thought of language as part of a culture?
In any particular culture, language is used to communicate ideas across its associated people. It is a shared practice used across generations, connecting its speakers, new and old.
Somewhere along the way in every language, words and grammar rules were established and the language spread across nations and cultures. Then, somewhere along the way in those cultures, variations and dialects of the language developed. Even if a particular culture’s common language did not originate within that culture, the language was uniquely adapted to that particular group of people (like English in the United States!)
Oftentimes, we like to think of language and culture as separate entities… When I speak English, for example, I don’t exactly think of myself as expressing my culture, but the reality is that language and culture are more complementary than we think. Think of food... There is a reason we still call quesadillas, pretzels, and sushi by their native names…culture and language are heavily intertwined!
By raising your child to learn a second language at an early age, you are allowing them to build connections with other cultures and groups of people, raising their awareness of diversity and different ways of life.
When a child learns the customs and traditions of another culture, often through a foreign language, they develop an awareness that how they live their life may be different than others.
For example, it's likely that a child learning Spanish will end up reading books about “Three Kings Day”, a popular Latin American and Spanish holiday when children receive gifts in honor of the gifts Jesus received as a baby from the three kings. If an American child reads this, they will learn that there are other holiday gift-givers besides Santa Claus! (Every child should learn a foreign language… even if it's just for the sake of finding multiple excuses to celebrate a holiday 😉).
All that goes to say, when we speak a different language, we are exercising a crucial element of its associated culture. While language is just one way of communicating culture, it is one of its most teachable, malleable, extendible and shareable elements. Children learning languages have the opportunity to explore cultural practices, even at an early age!
#2: Learning a Second Language at a Young Age Fosters Social-Emotional Development
Social-emotional skills are the skills that allow your child to build personal connections, communicate effectively, and process emotions. Research has shown that children who develop strong social-emotional skills go on to have more positive outcomes later in life, such as being employed, graduating college, or having less trouble with the police.
Oftentimes, the importance of this “softer” skill is neglected in academic settings, but it can have a great impact on your child’s development! If you’re not totally convinced that these outcomes are real, check out this well-known study:
In a famous set of studies conducted in 1972 and 1988, researchers placed a marshmallow in front of elementary-aged children and gave them two options: eat the marshmallow now or wait and get two marshmallows.
The study measured kids’ abilities to regulate emotions and delay gratification, two key components of social-emotional skills.
Over the course of several decades, researchers found that within this set of kids, the ones who were able to delay gratification and wait for the two marshmallows were more successful in their education and careers.
So, we know that socio-emotional development has been shown to be essential for being successful in life, but what does this have to do with learning a second language? Well, it just so happens that learning a second language is correlated with increased socio-emotional skills!
In a study done in February 2021, researchers in Singapore observed 805 Singaporean children learning English and either Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil.
The researchers assessed each child’s level of vocabulary and experience with the languages and found out that “children who [have] larger bilingual receptive vocabulary and [have] frequently spoken both languages for a longer time [have] better social-emotional and behavioral skills.”
Essentially, the more familiarity with a second language, the better social-emotional skills a child will have!
Social-emotional skills can look many different ways, a few examples are:
Understanding that different people have different perspectives
Empathy for the feelings and emotions of others
Navigating negative and positive emotions
Building confidence
Growing relationships with others
Processing one's own emotions
Thinking outside of oneself
By exposing your child to a new language, you are setting them up well to develop these skills and become a more socially and emotionally developed person.
#3: Learning a Foreign Language as a Child Provides New Opportunities
If you didn’t know already – the United States has more immigrants than any other country! As of 2019, there were around 45 million people living in the United States who were born in a different country.
A large majority of these immigrants are from Spanish-speaking countries! From 2010 to 2020, the Hispanic or Latino population in the U.S. grew by 23% percent – from 50.5 million to 62.1 million.
As the number of foreign-language speakers increases in the United States, so does the need for proper communication with them. In recent years, the desire for employees with the ability to speak a second language has grown, especially in the field of healthcare and government work.
In 2015, the number of job listings for dual-language workers was approximately 630,000. With 45 million immigrants and growing in the United States, the number of listings will only rise. According to Mohamed Abdel-Kader, the deputy leading the DOE’s language-education arm, one in five jobs are tied to international trade. This means more jobs benefit from familiarity with a second language than we may think. By getting your child familiar with another language, you are growing their employee desirability and opportunity years in advance!
Not only that, their pay will increase as well! It has been found that employees with the ability to speak more than one language will earn around 5-20% MORE per hour than those with the ability to speak just one language. Your kids may be young now, but it’s never too early to start thinking about your retirement plan 😉.
Knowing a second or third language could also help with socializing and assimilating in the workplace. As the number of foreign language speakers ries in the U.S., casual office conversations, sometimes known as “water cooler talk”, will begin to be held more frequently in languages other than English. Having the ability to speak a second language will help your child participate in these conversations with ease, no matter what kind of job they have!
Acquiring a second language also opens up new opportunities for travel in business and leisure. While it’s likely that English is spoken in many countries you may visit, it’s hard to truly immerse oneself in another country or culture without understanding its language. By setting up your child well for foreign language learning, you are giving them the chance to see the world in a more enriching way, and eliminating their need for a translator!
As children in a constantly evolving and diversifying world, your kids are bound to come into contact with non-English speakers in their day-to-day lives. When you introduce your child to a new language, you could potentially be giving them the opportunity to communicate with or assist immigrant children in their schools, churches, or daycares. You’ll also be opening up the opportunity to befriend these children, making them feel more welcome, and expanding your kids’ cultural awareness.
Finally, one of the best benefits of learning a second language as a child is the ability to watch and listen to more media entertainment, like movies and music. While you can almost always add English subtitles to a movie, or listen to the English version of a particular song, experiencing media in its original, authentic form is always the best way to go! Click here for blogger Mama Llama Linguist’s recommendations on the best TV shows for kids learning Spanish.
Why Learning a Second Language is Beneficial
Not only will learning a second language increase your child’s cultural awareness, foster their social-emotional development, and provide them new opportunities, it will have serious impacts on their brain as well!
When a child, or anybody for that matter, learns a new language, their brain has more gray matter, their focus and attention are improved, their cognition and executive functioning skills are enhanced, and they have a higher capacity for empathy. Check out our blog Why Bilingual is Better: Bilingualism, Language and Cognition for more details on how learning a second language affects the brain!
Your Child’s Path to Enhanced Language and Bilingual Cognition Skills
As you can tell, we are passionate about learning languages, and we believe that exposing your child to a second language early on is one of the best things you can do for them! This may seem like a daunting task, but luckily, you’re not in it alone. There are plenty of resources out there to help you introduce languages to your child, including our own app, FabuLingua! FabuLingua is a mobile game that utilizes the power of storytelling to introduce Spanish into the lives of children, taking the stress of the job off your shoulders.
Through our patented Magical Translations® methodology, your child will only see the text in Spanish (like they would in a regular Spanish story), but they will hear the narrator’s rhythmic alternation between Spanish and its English translation, making it easy to understand! This method allows the children to follow the story in a relaxed and engaging way, which we know is the ideal state for language acquisition. To the kids, they’re enjoying an engaging story with minimal effort, no stress, and all the fun. In their brains, however, they’re actually learning Spanish!
In our stories, we make sure to include themes and imagery from authentic Hispanic cultures. This means that when your kid goes through the story, not only will they be exposed to the language, but Hispanic culture as well!
Obviously, second language acquisition isn’t the be-all and end-all for your child’s development, but if you have the opportunity to significantly improve your child’s social skills, why not give it a try? And what better time to introduce your child to a foreign language than in their prime years of development?!
Get the FabuLingua app today in the AppStore or Google Play store and receive a one-week subscription for free!
