| There seems to be a general tone among | | | | or more years of language study scored, on |
| parents today when it comes to the topic of | | | | average, 50 points higher in the Critical Reading |
| helping their child learn a second language, | | | | section of the SAT than those seniors who had |
| particularly English-speaking parents of young | | | | only a half year or less of foreign language. |
| children. Just this morning, in our local Starbucks, a | | | | Year after year the statistical reports that |
| mom approached me after seeing the magnetic | | | | provide information about SAT performance |
| signs on my car that tout my business and its | | | | across the United States show clear evidence |
| benefits. She asked me if I also taught adults | | | | that link together foreign language study and |
| Spanish, to which I quickly and definitively replied | | | | increased standardized test scores. Many parents, |
| with a negative, a no. Her feeling was that she | | | | who are faced with toddler tantrums and |
| had to know the language before bringing it into | | | | preschool age adventures, don't often think this |
| her child's world. | | | | far into their child's future. College entrance exams |
| This mom, like so many other savvy parents, felt | | | | seem a lifetime away. Truth be told, the choices |
| she better find a program that will get her fluent | | | | they make today in their child's development, |
| in the new language first. This feeling, this tone is | | | | both socially and educationally, will help determine |
| such a misconception as recently addressed in a | | | | and drive their successes later in life. Gaining skills |
| terrific book written by two moms who are also | | | | in a second language early in life will assist your |
| PhDs in linguistics. In their book titled The Bilingual | | | | child in learning his own language more quickly and |
| Edge, Dr. King and Dr. Mackey clearly state that a | | | | often times lead to early reading skills that are |
| parent does not have to be fluent in nor have | | | | not noted in monolingual children. |
| command of the second language in order to | | | | Dr. Ellen Bialystok, PhD out of York University has |
| bring itinto their home on a daily and regular basis. | | | | shared definitive research showing that children |
| As long as there is interaction between parent | | | | who receive instruction in two languages score |
| and child using tools that bring the new language | | | | twice as high on language tests than their |
| into their lives then the bilingual journey can take | | | | monolingual peers. These bilingual children also read |
| place. | | | | sooner and demonstrated advanced problem |
| Experts agree that daily and regular interaction | | | | solving capabilities. This same woman and her |
| with the new language is crucial to achieving | | | | research team out of the Rotman Research |
| bilingual fluency. There is a huge debate about the | | | | Institute just reported in January 2007 that |
| length of time it takes a person to become truly | | | | bilingualism can help delay the onset of dementia |
| bilingual. The point here is not to debate the length | | | | by four years. Again, something most parents are |
| of time necessary to be deemed wholly bilingual. | | | | not focusing on when they are still changing |
| The younger, the better is the agreement | | | | diapers and choosing preschools, but something |
| between experts, research teams and educators. | | | | worth noting. |
| Today's parents should heed their advice and get | | | | Maintaining an English-only mentality is no longer a |
| the language learning going as early as possible in | | | | choice. The choice now is when should I as a |
| their children's lives. | | | | parent begin the second language introduction and |
| The very board that administers the SAT, the | | | | why. The reasons are clear, and your child will |
| College Board, has continually reported that the | | | | benefit greatly from you making the choice to |
| length of foreign language study is an important | | | | begin the journey to bilingualism today in your |
| variable in predicting students' SAT performance. | | | | family. |
| What does this mean? The seniors who had four | | | | |