Should Children Start Learning a Foreign Language Early?

Considering the existing educational system, some people argue that learning a foreign language in an early age is unnecessary and it may give the young children too much burden. However, they may neglect that learning a foreign language can be an enjoyable experience for children and it is necessary to catch up the worldwide trend. In my opinion, learning a foreign language, such as English, as soon as they start school has so many advantages. With globalization and communications among different countries, the world is becoming smaller and smaller. Therefore we cannot deny the importance of a second or third foreign language.

In fact, we should begin to learn a foreign language as early as possible. There are three reasons about it.

First, a child has a very passionate interest to study. Everyone should agree with it, for we all have the same experience that a child always asks you about something with full of interests. He or she always try to understand things around him/her and would be eager to seek answers about their questions. On the contrary, when a child grows up, he or she will gradually lose interests on new things.

Second, compared with adults, children have greater abilities to study a foreign language. Many studies indicate that a child can study a language more easily and quickly, meanwhile he or she has a good memory to remember new words, and can distinguish the subtle difference between two words that sound similar.

Third, studying a language is not an easy job, which need a long term and continuous effort. Language is not only a tool, but also part of a culture. If we want to be proficient with a language, we must spend a lot of time studying it.

In a word, children should start learning a foreign language early. As I far as I know, in my country many elementary schools have given English lessons, which will surly beneficial to the future of our country.