The Importance of Kids Learning Spanish

With Spanish being the 3rd most spoken language in the world, it is considered one of languages that can be picked up easily thanks to the similarities between English and Spanish words. With the number of Spanish speakers expected to increase over the next few years, learning institutions cannot afford to be left behind by not including Spanish in their curriculum. With children, having a head start in learning a second language can be very beneficial and can also form a cultural connection with other children their own age who don’t speak English.

Why Children are Learning Spanish

As said before, kids learning Spanish has become important as the demand for the language increases. Spanish is also one of the easier languages for children to learn as it follows a similar alphabet and grammar structure to English. Learning Spanish can also lead to children learning and easily picking up other Latin-based languages such as French or Portuguese in a much shorter time.

In different countries, you can find that many children start picking up Spanish for different reasons. For example, in Asian countries such as China, parents believe learning more than one language gives their child an edge when it comes to picking a university abroad. There has also been an increase of demand for Spanish speakers in China as their relationships with Spanish-speaking countries grow.

In the USA, there has been a higher demand for Spanish-immersion schools. Parents have agreed that enrolling their kids in such schools give them a competitive edge in the future and give them exposure to Hispanic culture. While in the UK, Spanish is slowly becoming one of the most popular languages to be taught. A report by the British Council showed that primary schools that are teaching Spanish has increased significantly from 16% to 27% in 2017.

Benefits of Children Being Bilingual

Teaching kids a second language is very beneficial, especially when they are at a young age. Yes, it might seem like you are overloading kids when you try to teach a second language while they are still learning the first. However, the brains of children are extremely flexibly and are like sponges, especially between the ages of 0-3. Their brains are able to absorb new information quickly than adults. In fact, the University of Washington News says that 27% of children in US under the age of 6 are now learning a 2nd language besides English. Some of the benefits of children being bilingual are:

Brian Functionality

Bilingual children have a sharper brain; teaching children another language early gives them an advantage as they learn how to switch between the two languages and be better multitaskers. Bilingual children also have a higher memory retention thanks to learning new words which helps stimulate the brain.

Academic Success

Bilingual children are more inclined to perform better academically when they know more than one language. Since they have stronger memory and attention spans, it gives them an advantage in the classroom both academically and behaviorally. Bilingual children also show that they pick up certain pre-reading skills faster than their monolingual counterparts.

Social

It has been researched that bilingual children have better social skills than their other children who are not. It has been said that this is because children raised in multilingual environments know how to communicate better and are more likely to empathize with others.

Future Career Opportunities

There is no surprise that bilingual children will have an upper hand in the future when it comes to job opportunities. Careers such as translators are on the rise and it is never too early to prepare a child for their future.

Final Thoughts

It is clear that when a child learns Spanish, it opens a world of opportunity for them as they continue to grow. It will expand their minds and even help them be more social and provide them with great opportunities in the future.