Multilingualism for young children. Yes or No.

‘To have another language is to possess a second soul’. Charlemagne

Children can learn multiple languages on your tablet.
Children can learn multiple languages on your tablet.

In South Africa, language and the educational language of choice can be a touchy subject, and one that many parents approach with trepidation.

There is  so much information out there that moms can feel intimidated. What is the best thing to do for your child, in order to stimulate and encourage their language development and learning in general?  Flash cards or no flash cards, one language or two? And where does your tablet fit in, or television time?  Come to think of it, where do you fit it all in – period? There’s just too much information.

However, most research agrees on the importance of mother-tongue education and the benefits that it can have for children’s early  learning and general development, as well as the advantages enjoyed by bilingual children. Time and again, research has proven that children who are exposed to and adopt two languages have a learning advantage in comparison to their peers. Put these two together, and you have the recipe for success.

Our range of Xander Apps concentrate on mother-tongue education in early childhood, and offer children a fun and stress-free learning environment. As we expand the range of African languages on offer, we also afford children the opportunity of exploring other languages. Now the problem lies in deciding where to start.

“Multilingualism in South Africa won’t go away. Indeed it is the global norm. The secret to success for all South Africans is to work towards a mother tongue based bilingual education system. This will produce motivated and knowledgeable citizens who can speak, read and write African languages and English.” As this article suggests, the value of bilingualism and early mother-tongue education cannot be overstated.

Top three benefits of mother-tongue learning or multilingualism:
1. Brain: multilingualism has been proven to reduce Alzheimer’s and improve critical thinking
2. Scale: after learning two languages, more languages become easier.
3. Socially: Enriched connection with cultural heritage and enhanced social experiences.

We would like to thank Adelove for permission to use this image.