By Vega Schools‘
The best schools in Gurgaon offer a variety of languages. According to NEP 2020, over 85% of the brain development has taken place by the time a child is six years old. According to brain scientists, bilingual and multilingual children have many advantages over their monolingual counterparts.
There are many languages on offer – French, German and Spanish are popular ones. Traditional languages such as Sanskrit are experiencing a revival. Many people believe that Mandarin could be an excellent choice, given China’s rise as a global superpower. In North India, usually Hindi is mandatory.
According to Statista, the most spoken languages worldwide in 2022 (in millions) are:
English 1500
Mandarin 1100
Hindi 602
Spanish 548
French 274
German 134
After English, Spanish is the best choice
For parents who want their children to have a more global experience, Spanish is probably the best choice. Why? Because over 300 million young people in China are learning English, which means it may not be necessary to learn Mandarin in order to transact with the Chinese in the future. French and German are less spoken and also confined to fewer parts of the world. It is clear that Spanish is the next best choice after English. Spanish is spoken across several continents and countries of the world, including in The United States, Latin America and Europe. Spanish has an advantage not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of its distribution across the world.
The earlier the better
Given that a large part of brain development takes place before the age of six, the sooner children are introduced to languages, the better. The younger we are, the easier and quicker we learn a language.
Being multilingual leads to brain development
Being bilingual and multilingual leads to development in additional parts of the brain. As bilingual children grow older, their brains show that the temporal and parietal cortices remain better preserved. The front and rear brain parts of bilingual people have better connectivity and enhance cognitive reserve. Bilingual children also are able to better focus on one thing and modify their response more easily leading to increased cognitive flexibility.
Edge in a globalised world
Thanks to technology, our children are likely to work across the world – both virtually and physically. Learning an additional language like Spanish will enable them to communicate with people across more regions, with larger geographical coverage.
Young children take to a language like fish to water. Languages should be introduced in Pre Nursery, Nursery School, Kindergarten or Primary school. The earlier the better. The Top 10 Schools in Gurgaon tend to offer language options much earlier. As parents we should take note of the benefits of our children being bilingual and select schools that provide some of these leading languages.
For more information on the above subject, write to us at info@vega.edu.in.