In some countries, schools are teaching foreign languages for primary school children. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

These days, 1the importancethe paramount importance of knowing a foreign language is universally acknowledged, and an increasing number of primary schools have made language teaching an essential part of their curriculum. This has both positive and negative outcomes, and I believe that the demerits are far outweighed by 2the many significant merits this bringsmany great merits it brings.

It is undeniable that 3teaching languages to young childrenteaching young children languages is beneficial for several reasons. Young minds are proven to pick up languages 4much more easily than adolescentsmuch more easily compared to adolescents as their brains are still programmed to acquire their mother tongue. This has the added benefit that children might gain a better understanding of other cultures at an early age, thus facilitating their personal development in later life. Primary schools’ timetables also 5allow for shorter sessionsallow shorter sessions with a play-centered approach, which helps 6maintain learners’ enthusiasm and support their progressmaintain learners’ enthusiasm and progress. In many non-native English-speaking countries, for instance, teenagers tend to feel demotivated and overwhelmed when studying this global language due to their hectic 7schedulesschedule and 8the large amount of work they need to complete every daya huge amount of work needed to complete everyday.

Nonetheless, learning foreign languages at such a young age is associated with drawbacks. The majority of primary teachers are generalists, so they might not have the 9required knowledge and qualificationsrequired knowledge and qualifications themselves. If specialists need to be brought in to deliver these lessons, the flexibility of primary schools’ timetables no longer exists. Let us not forget either that the 10varying ability levelsvarious levels of ability among young students can be a major disadvantage for secondary schools when it comes to 11placingclassifying them in different classes. If some are taught what they already know while their peers have 12no prior knowledgezero knowledge of the language, they are highly likely to lose interest sooner or later.

In conclusion, early exposure to language learning benefits individuals and society as a whole. As long as clear policies are adopted, the problems mentioned above could be addressed efficiently and strategically.