It is worth studying a foreign language for a child after 4-5 years, when he has mastered his native language enough. However, this should not be done if the child has speech problems – at least in preschool age. This was told socialbites.ca by Professor Leonid Chutko, head of the Center for Behavioral Neurology, head of the laboratory for correction of mental development and adaptation of the Human Brain Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“A healthy child in a multilingual environment can speak several languages from early childhood. In general, teaching a child a foreign language is very beneficial. Therefore, if a child is good at speaking, you can playfully teach him a foreign language from the age of 4-5 – by this age, the child already confidently masters the first language. But new languages are very difficult for children with speech disorders. If there are problems with speech, then at preschool age it is better to limit yourself to one language, ”she explained.
For more information on how to communicate with your child so that their speech develops normally and what speech delays can cause, see. material “socialbites.ca”.