I began to learn Spanish at a very
young age when I was only in second grade. I then stopped taking Spanish until
I was in high school, and I had to re-learn most of the language, and found
that I barely retained any of the Spanish skills that I had learned as a child.
How could this be? I felt like going into my Spanish classes in high school
would be easier since I had such a strong background in Spanish as a child.
In an article written by Monika Schmid
, childhood is identified as the “critical period” for learning a new language.
Research suggests that as we get older “our ability to learn a second language
diminishes” (Schmid). Popular opinion also suggests that younger children have
the ability to retain information better, due to the fact that they are still
developing their first language skills, and certain grammatical and
pronunciation habits are easier to overcome this way.
In an article written by Laura
Clark, it is claimed that the peak age for second language acquisition skills
is six or seven, while recent research suggests that it may possibly even be
earlier than that; when kids are around 3 or 4 years old. Creativity and
critical thinking have been shown to be enhanced in children who start learning
a second language at preschool age (Clark). “50% of our ability to learn is
developed by age four” (Clark) which makes children who are around preschool
age able to learn the basic concepts of another language. Children at this age
are generally most impressionable, and it is a very critical age for learning ranging wider than just language comprehension.
I think that my inability to retain
Spanish after learning it at a young age came from a variety of factors. I
think that it is possible that I was too old (being around 8 or 9 and missing
the claimed “critical period”) when I began to learn Spanish, and my grammar
and pronunciation skills were too far advanced in English. Secondly, I don’t think
that I was fully invested in learning the language. I was in Spanish classes
before school because my mom wanted me to get exposed to a language other than
English- not because I wanted to. I sat in the class, did the work, and payed attention, but because I didn't have a genuine interest in the course material, and I was a little bit above the "critical age" I did not retain the information as well as a child younger than me would have.
Learning a second language in high school is by no means "bad", and many students have found success in learning at an older age, and have even become more fluent. But the ideal age to become fluent in a second language is between the ages of 3-7, because many first-language habits have not been formed yet.
Works Cited:
Clark, Laura. “The Best Age for Kids to Learn a Second
Language.” Parent Co. N.p., 26 Apr.
2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017
Schmid, Monika. The Independent. Independent Digital News
and Media, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
Hey Natalie! I liked your post!
ReplyDeleteI was in the same boat as you in high school. In kindergarten and first grade I was somewhat exposed to Spanish, but I never really learned much besides family members and pet names. After I had to change schools, they didn't offer the same teaching so I unfortunately had to stop progressing in learning another language (or part of one) until high school. I found myself very skilled at reading and writing Spanish, but speaking it has always been troublesome for me since I didn't grow up with the necessary language habits. I can barely understand someone talking in Spanish unless it's extremely slow and obvious. I definitely think had I learned it earlier in my life I could be good at this, but sadly it would be difficult to get past my monolingual barriers. I really do believe that early exposure in the way to go!