Prompt: Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Ċ Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

It is often argued that children should learn a foreign language at the primary school level instead of secondary school. Although there are some who advocate that learning a foreign language should start at high school, I’m strongly inclined towards the view that children should be taught foreign languages at primary levels. Ċ One of the main advantages of learning a foreign language at an early age is to promote a child’s cognitive development and mastery over the language since children at this period are more receptive and have a great memory, therefore they become well-versed in grammar, pronunciation and syntax which are the key components of any language. For instance, it has been observed that a child who has been learning English since grade 1 speaks it more fluently than a student who started learning the language from grade 7 or 8 onwards. Furthermore, being an expert at a new language at primary school would help them enormously in the long run. By knowing a second language, they can acquire knowledge about the lifestyle, the culture of a different country and are able to adapt well when studying abroad. Ċ However, there are a few disadvantages as well. Adding another language to the curriculum can be burdensome for the children especially if the emphasis is on teaching reading and writing. This causes them a lot of difficulties and also they confuse the alphabets of one language with the alphabets of another language. In my opinion, schools can avoid this issue by focusing only on speaking in primary school. Once the child is older, writing and reading can be taught. Ċ To conclude, there are many benefits to learning a foreign language at primary school and they indeed outweigh the risks involved.