Can a toddler be taught a second or third language?
Young children are natural language acquirers. Any idea that learning to talk a second or third language is difficult does not occur to them unless it’s suggested by adults. Children are self-motivated to pick up language without conscious learning, unlike adolescents and adults. They have the ability to imitate pronunciation and work out the rules for themselves. .
The advantages of beginning early
Infants can learn by listening, seeing, imitating, and practicing. So talk to them from the start. Tell them what you are doing. Introduce them to rhymes, songs, games, and counting in a second or third language. Young children have time to learn through play-like activities. They pick up language by taking part in an activity shared with an adult. They firstly make sense of the activity and then get meaning from the adult’s shared language.
Tips for Teaching Children a Second or Third Language
- Learn by doing. Play grocery store, make a snack, or take a walk. While you are interacting with the children during these activities, speak a second or third language.
- Reinforce with pictures and sounds. Say the sounds of the language that accompany a picture in a playful way. For example, “A is for apple”.
- Learning should be fun. The more fun it is to learn a language, the more a child will want to stay with it. Learning while playing is the best way to learn because it creates emotional attachments, and emotion is the door to learning.
- Learn with music and rhythm. Music is one way to use the whole brain. Do you still remember the songs you learned in early childhood? Most people do because lyrics combined with music are easier to learn.
- Learn with lots of movement—use the body and the mind together. The brain and the body are one. However, the traditional education system encourages students to sit all day long. Now we know that we learn more when we move as we learn. Encourage children to dance and move to the rhythm when learning a second or third language.
- Learn by talking to each other. Having a nanny or caretaker who speaks a different language would be also a great way to expose the child to another language. This is also the most natural way for children to learn a second or third language.
