Learning a Second Language

We all know that knowledge of a second language is important because of globalization.  Despite the sensitive period for learning a language as mentioned before a person can become fluent young or old but it is better to start at a younger age.  People who learn at a younger age more often have positive attitudes towards those who speak a second language and are more likely to enroll in foreign language classes. At least half of the world is bilingual.  Wow I didn't know this statistic.  American Sign Language could be another foreign language addition to a person's language repertoire.

 

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Being bilingual has many advantages as they appear to have a head start in their metalinguistic development. A higher level of this development may cause a student to have a head start in reading ability and perform better on intelligence and creativity tests. To teach a English-speaking native a foreign language they should be totally immersed in the language. They don't have many opportunities to speak it outside the classroom so they need all they can get in class. On the other hand, for a non English-speaking person in an English territory, they should receive bilingual education. With this a student would excel by having class instruction and work in their foreign language and then being taught English. If bilingual education is not done, they may lose their foreign language because of all the English that is spoken around them.

Because of all the advantages of learning a second language, teachers should really promote bilingualism for students.