Good knowledge of English today remains one of the most important elements of what is called a "start in life". English is needed for business and science, travel and work, and nothing will really work at the university now without a good command of a foreign language: almost all new literature on the humanities, natural sciences and technical sciences is printed in English.
It is for this reason that many conscious parents try to send their children to study English as early as possible. Let's try to figure out at what age you can send a child to English courses, what restrictions there are and whether early acquaintance with English will harm the mastery of the native language.
What is English for?
Those who speak English well significantly expand their opportunities: such a person can enter a foreign school or university, find a job abroad (and the choice is not limited to English-speaking countries, it is much wider due to the international status of the language). Speaking English, you will not experience difficulties with watching new films and finding the necessary information, you will be able to read fiction and scientific literature in the original language, get acquainted with news from the most authoritative sources.
Of course, you can live without all this, especially if you are never going to get out of your city. Another thing is if you plan to move abroad or you are already looking for an English school for your child for the future. Then it's time to start, and if you are not too late!
Next, let's talk about what difficulties you will have to face when learning English early.
Why is it useful and right to start earlier?
According to modern authoritative research, a child begins to consciously perceive human speech and memorize it even before one year, at the age of eight months. The easiest way is if he is in an environment where two or three languages are used at once: then he will automatically master all of them, without too much difficulty.
That is why sending a child to courses or assigning an English-speaking nanny to him is a worthwhile idea.
At this age, the human brain is most receptive to new speech constructions. It is known that language learning includes four successive stages: silence, perception, speaking and, finally, reading and writing (this is one stage, not two). At the first stage, the child only listens to speech, not understanding it, but mastering the phonetic and lexical structure, intonation and rhythm, involuntarily memorizes simple words and sentences. Then comes an understanding of the meaning of what is being said. Even if the nuances are still incomprehensible, the child as a whole already understands the main thing – who said or did what. After that, children learn to formulate simple thoughts into sentences on their own, and only then comes the turn of reading and writing.
With a small child, everything is simpler: there is no need to motivate and force, we just start learning and the language gradually becomes an integral part of life – just like bathing and walking.
Finally, entering schools will not be so stressful if the child goes there with basic knowledge of a foreign language.
When is early English not a good idea?
Starting early is not always good and right – in some cases, it will do more harm than good.
- For example, you should not study English before school if the child has serious problems with mastering native speech. It is believed that the child learns sounds in a certain order, starting with "A", "U" and "O" and the consonants "P" and "B" and "M" at the age of 2 years and up to the hard and soft "R" and "L" in the last year before school. If in your case the child has certain difficulties in speech development, this is a reason to think about going to a speech therapist for a comprehensive diagnosis. A specialist will not only help you overcome existing problems, but will also tell you when and how much English can also be connected.
- Also, you should not take a swing at a foreign language before the first grade if the child has difficulties with fixing information. It happens that words do not stay in memory for more than 2-3 minutes, and this is also a reason to go to an appointment with a professional, only to another one – a neuropsychologist. Neuropsychology allows you to find out what difficulties the child faces in his psycho-emotional development with the help of functional testing, and also conducts corrective classes. In 90% of cases, "leaky memory" or difficulty concentrating can be eliminated, but there is no point in studying a foreign language before you solve these problems – lessons will turn into slow and meaningless torture.
- Dancing, drama club, photography club, and also a desire to sing... If the schedule is so tight that the child does not have a single day free from additional classes and electives per week, this is a reason to think – but not about English, but about giving up something that you are already doing. It is critically important for a preschooler to have time free from useful and productive activities, where you can just run, jump, lie on the couch, build a castle from pillows or nibble something while watching your favorite cartoon. If you don't give him such an opportunity, he will break down and basically lose the motivation to go somewhere and learn something.
