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It is great worth of discussing effects on educating
the second language depending on the ages.
In some cases, it is beneficial for elementary
school students to learn a foreign language. But in other situations, it can actually
have a negative effect on them.
There is no doubt that bilingual ability has
been much more important than ever. Therefore many patents want their children to
learn the second language when they are young. Some people insist primary
school students are the best age to learn it. They assert that is that when it
comes to language, the younger is the better to learn.
According to a survey conducted by National
Language Institution, when students put the same amount of time on learning a
foreign language, pupils aged under 12-year-old memorize about 73 percent more
words and sentences than others aged over 12-year-old.
However, while the research supports the
idea that elementary students could take advantages of their youth to learn foreign
language, there is high possibility for them to miss other opportunities by too
focusing on being bilingual.
For
example, in my case, I had focused on art and physical classes when I was an
elementary student , and then focused on a foreign language after aged
14-year-old. Since my mother tongue was a secure linguistic foundation by
13-year-old, not only I was able to learn new language by comparing words but also
I could apply words properly by mentioning my experience in my second language.
To be more specific, I had more experiences to talk about both in my mother
tongue and the foreign language.
To sum up, although both positive and
negative values exist, I believe that the positive effect outweighs the
negative effect of educating a foreign language for elementary pupils. However,
we also must be very careful to teach them to avoid taking chances to learn
other things from them.
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