Caring parents, almost from the birth of a child, begin to think about his education - to look for the first books, poems, lullabies, educational toys and pictures for him. With a foreign language, the question is no less acute: young mothers and fathers are interested in the age at which it is better to learn a foreign language, when it will be easiest for a child, whether it is worth starting learning English before school.
It is best to instill a love for a foreign language from childhood. A child who, even in preschool age, learned that English or any other foreign language is not scary, not difficult, but very fun and interesting, will be happy to study it at school, avoid problems with not understanding foreign speech on a trip, will be more open communicate in the language and will be happy to continue learning. The main rule here is not to force the child, to avoid punishment for unwillingness to learn new and still incomprehensible words. But what is the best age to start learning?
The earlier the better
There are many opinions on this. But the most true among them is that learning foreign languages can be started from any age, but the earlier the parents take up the solution to this issue, the easier it will be for the child to start speaking in English or any other language. It has long been noticed that young children memorize a foreign language easier than adults. Kids think in images and perceive any language without dividing into vocabulary and grammar, without understanding the rules. Therefore, it is easier for them to overcome the language barrier and start simply speaking - at first with mistakes, distorting words and their meaning, but still speaking. And this is a very correct process, which is almost inaccessible to adults who are constrained by the fear of making mistakes and seem ridiculous.
Of course, it is ideal to start learning foreign languages from birth. It is during the period from 0 to 3 years that the child's brain is most plastic and is able to assimilate huge amounts of information that are invested in it without special memorization of words and tension. Just remember examples of how languages were taught in tsarist Russia. Every aristocratic child from birth had a governess, often a foreigner, who communicated with the baby exclusively in French. Such children learned two languages from infancy and were called bilinguals - they were equally familiar with communication in Russian and French. With the same ease, a child will master two, three, and even ten foreign languages, which will be perceived by him as his own.
Preschool age
Naturally, such ideal conditions for teaching a child a foreign language are not available to every parent. Therefore, in preschool age, English is usually introduced from 3-5 years old. On the one hand, at the age of 3, children memorize the language at a subconscious level, and subsequently begin to speak it more freely. But on the other hand, children aged 4-5 years are already more assiduous, disciplined and conscious. You can play interesting games with them, they understand how to behave during the lesson and respond better to various tasks.
It should be added that with children of preschool and primary school age, English classes should be carried out only in a playful way. This means that during the lesson, you can use bright pictures, tell stories, attract toys for the lesson, sing songs with children, stage scenes and recite poems. Then the kids will be happy to wait for each lesson in a foreign language.
