Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian, parents are teaching their children to speak English to compete in this new global economy.  How about American children learning other languages to compete in the new global economy?  Through digital technology and better communications, the world keeps getting smaller, and knowing other languages will continue to be an important skill to have.  Teaching children other languages can prepare your child’s job success as well a help develop an appreciation for international arts and sciences.

A new language “Koro” is being spoken to six months old infants. This new language has opened the doors for researches to understand language development. It’s fascinating to understand how children from a very early age can acquire language.

“At TEDxRainier, Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another — by listening to the humans around them and “taking statistics” on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world.”

As parents we can help our children acquire new language before the age of seven by exposing them to different opportunities such as:

• Having family and friends who speak other languages talk to them in the other language.
• Enrolling children in foreign language school before the age of seven, see chart below.
• Watching safe and age appropriate cartoons in a different language.
• Encouraging multi-lingual communications at home.
• Encouraging a baby sitter to speak in another language.
• Allowing grandparents to speak to children in another language.