If children keep their first language active, they can continue their intellectual development using the first language-while they are being introduced to English as a second language at child care, kindergarten or school. Good first language development can act as a support for learning English as a second language. English as a second language. The development of the first language at home doesn't simply teach children how to speak, and how to understand what others are saying in that language. It also teaches them how language works.
Language is a tool for thought.
There is evidence that knowing more than one language well, increases the flexibility of children's thinking. There are obvious employment advantages in being able to communicate well in two languages. Children do not learn English better if they forget or neglect their home language, yet many educators and parents still cling to this old belief. If the staff in the centre encourage children to maintain their first languages, other children for whom English is their mother tongue can also learn something of languages other than English. They can begin to acquire a second language as naturally as thy acquire many other new skills in the preschool years.