Our eldest spawnling starts High School this year—in Australia, this means he starts Year 7 in about three weeks’ time. Out of all the orientation days and information packs, the part he is most excited about is learning Spanish. Sinister (11YO) has never had the opportunity to study a foreign language at school before; it was never offered at his public primary school. However, I have been more surprised by the discussions with other school parents: apparently a foreign language isn’t the most ideal subject for university/college scholarships—like that is the only reason you would study a foreign language. What the Geek?!? Parents, I have seven reasons why you should be studying foreign languages at any age…And another five suggestions on how to make it really easy for your family.
The number one thing I noticed from learning foreign languages is how much it improved my basic understanding of my native tongue. For ages, I thought it was just my own quirk but research has shown learning another language can enhance your knowledge of structure and vocabulary in your original language. This is across race, gender, and academic level—it’s a universal benefit. And the best part is, you should start seeing the benefits after the first semester.
Okay, this one won’t happen overnight but it has been proven to encourage greater multi-tasking. There will come a time when you seriously cannot help but automatically think of ‘pig’ as ‘buta’ (Japanese) or ‘apple’ as ‘mela’ (Italian). You find yourself flipping between languages and multi-tasking between words and structure. An added bonus is the ability to quickly sort through the multi-tasking and prioritize the information presented. An important skill for any parent, I would think.
This is not anything new but the importance is what keeps it in the news. I mean, let’s face it: if you knew a way to improve your chances of a long, healthy, and full-cognitive life then what would stop you from implementing it? Studying a foreign language has been shown to do exactly that. But there is a catch… you have to consistently practice it, every day. That random Dora the Explorer episode isn’t enough. Start young and create the habit. It’s worth it.
The easiest way to gain insight to another culture is to learn their language. Studying Japanese introduced me to multiple levels of “polite-speak,” showing me the social hierarchy that exists in their culture. This also leads to a better understanding of “face” in many Asian cultures; There are social situations where the Japanese word for yes actually means no. Studying a foreign language is like opening a door to all of these cultural and language differences. And I cannot stress how important this is going to be for our kids’ professional futures. More and more jobs are now available remotely, which means our kids are no longer competing for jobs with Billy and Sue from school; they are now competing for jobs with Saul and Javier and Alexis and Mizuki and everyone else. Showing some global awareness, with both your heart and your language, is a benefit to everyone around you.
There’s a bit of debate as to which is the cause and which is the benefit, but research has shown a link between learning a foreign language and pattern recognition. While there is support in saying pattern recognition helps you learn multiple languages, there is also argument in the same reversed. After spending hours on end with French verbs, you too will be able to recognize patterns in words and sounds. The bonus news is how this affects your studies across other disciplines. Pattern recognition is an essential skill in many different areas, and is possibly related to an increase students gain in standardized testing. The kids who have better pattern recognition will do better across all subjects, not just languages.
If you are concerned your kids are never listening to you, throw them in a foreign language class. Studies have shown multilingual people are better at picking out the different sounds and tones found within language. Sometimes this is due to attention required in pronunciation; sometimes it is purely because we missed half the sentence and we are desperately trying to figure out what you said just from the inflection of your voice. And that is a GOOD thing. Because it means we are paying attention to you, and that is a very good social skill to have.
When studying French at school all I ever wanted was to travel to France. I never made it *sad panda* but I did make it to Italy, and was subsequently amazed at how much easier it was to pick up Italian (sidenote: I was constantly asked by locals if I was from the north because of my French-sounding Italian… there are consequences). Every time I study another language, even just a little bit, it opens up a whole new geography for me. You need some contextual understanding to go with the language. Studying a foreign language opens this up for you. Even with the basics, you can travel and show locals how willing you are to experience their part of their world. And if you are still thinking about career prospects, this worldly experience is great for the CV.
Fairly convincing argument, you might say. With all of these benefits, the only question left is:
“Well, smarty pants. What’s the easiest way to start?”
Funny thing is: you can introduce another language in every day activities you are already doing.
See, it’s easy! The hardest part is choosing a language to study! We have a few students amongst our GeekMom writers, so share your tips and questions in the comments. Bonne chance, mes amis!
This post was last modified on January 10, 2018 2:33 am
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