In Brazil, most regular schools offer children only a few hours of instruction in a second language. Red House International School prioritizes foreign language acquisition by having 5% to 20% of all its content taught in Portuguese.
During the first years of school life, from Toddler to K5 classes (from 14 months to 5 years old), teacher-student interactions are mainly in English. This early exposure to a “target” language is relevant, since it has a direct reflection on the quality and speed of learning.
Considering this, parents frequently worry when small children say a word in Portuguese in the middle of a sentence in English. However, it is important to note that the fact of learning two languages at the same time does not hinder in any way children’s acquisition of their mother tongue.
The phenomenon is known as “Code Switching” and it is considered absolutely normal. Every child has their own development pace as expected, thus the combination of languages is simply a passing phase.
What happens is that bilingual students acquire two interaction systems through which both languages are always active to some degree. There is no exchange or blending of languages, but rather a mechanism of joint activation in the brain.
Within this context, it is critical that our teachers’ fluency and phonetics be excellent since children simply copy everything they hear. It is therefore essential that the faculty be fluent in both languages, or even better, native speakers of the target language.
Recent studies from Canada by Dr. Daniel Ansari, winner of the Award Transforming Education through Neuroscience, has shown that bilingual learning is one of the most intense experiences the brain can have and this has a significant impact on its cognitive structure.
Magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that children exposed to a second language in a bilingual way have better developed executive control systems in their brains than monolingual students.
Furthermore, they can solve problems quickly, plan with greater assertiveness, are more organized, and easily control their behavior, since they are accustomed to assessing the environment to determine which language is most suitable to use.
What’s more, the brain makes physical connections much faster in young children as their brains develop rapidly.
In conclusion, it is never too late, but an early start makes all the difference!
Matthias Meier
Educational Advisor RedHouse International School
