– According to an outdated assumption, teaching foreign languages to toddlers was a waste of time. On the contrary, recent research by Harvard University found that learning additional languages at a very young age brings amazing intellectual benefits in strengthening fundamental skills like critical thinking, creativity and mental agility.

– The Harvard research demonstrates that learning another language – a process that entails memorizing new rules and vocabulary – is a complex cognitive process, not just a linguistic one. Children who practice a foreign language perform better on both verbal and math standardized tests than their peers who use only their mother tongue. Such results are not really surprising: the brain works like a muscle, becoming better and stronger through exercise. Learning several languages is probably one of the best brain building activities during a child’s earliest years.

 

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