Essay task 2

Topic: 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?

Children have traditionally begun studying second languages at secondary grade level states. However, it is believed by educationalists that initiating a new language at the primary level is highly benificial for learners rather than at the secondary level. Reagarding this topic, this essay will argue that the merits outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, it is supposed that commercing a new foreign language early in schooldays holds some desirable points. To begin with, the obvious argument for its favour is that children have a tendency to pick up new languages much more easily compared to teenagers. There is no denying the fact that the young brains are still programmed to acquire the mother tongue, which in turn facilitates learning another language. Another benefit for the early exposure to language is mantaining learners’ enthusiasm and progress. Indeed, the early start grants students the opportunity to master skills at the young age, thus develop the command of language in the long run. They may also get better understanding of other cultures.

On the other hand, the drawbacks offered by the early exposure to language are likely to backfire learners. The most common critism is undue pressure. As the matter of fact, introducing new activities might increase the great burden on young childen who need more time to get used to new school environment. Moreover, the disadvantage of learning mutilple languages in primary schools is that childen can confuse their mother tongue and the foreign language. As a result, they may take longer to achieve fluency in their native language. For instance, a child who was born in Vietnam, but lives in American will probaly have difficulty in conversing with her family in her native language.

In conclusion, while there some unfavorable points to encourage children to learn a second language, I am of the opinion that educating young learners to be mutillingual promotes easier and better language skills as well.