Your child’s critical window for language learning might be closing soon...
(What the Wild Child, Victor of Aveyron, can teach us about language acquisition)
Did you know there’s only a limited time frame—a small window of opportunity—within which your child can effortlessly acquire language?
During only a few early years of their lives, children have an incredible ability to absorb vocabulary, grammar, and a flawless native accent. But once this window closes, this amazing ability fades, making language learning far more difficult...
So how long does this window stay open? Over 150 years ago, Maria Montessori discovered that children experience a sensitive period for language acquisition, which lasts until they are about six years old. Modern studies continue to confirm this, showing that early childhood is the prime time for language development. After the first six years of life, while children can still learn, it becomes much harder, especially to acquire perfect grammar and pronunciation.
When is the best time to act? If you’ve ever wondered, “Should I introduce an extra language into my child’s already busy linguistic repertoire? Won’t it confuse them? Won’t they learn English later in school anyway? Is reading and writing really that important”—the answer is simple: do it now!
Your child’s brain is currently developing neurological pathways for various language constructs and giving your child exposure to various rhythms, intonations, accents, syntax, phonetic sounds, vocabulary - is like prepping the soil for an abundant linguistic crop to grow.
Think about it—ever tried learning German as an adult? No matter how much effort you put in, you still can’t get "der, die, das" quite right... That’s exactly what I mean (story of my life, by the way...)! Learning as a young child is effortless and natural, but for adults, it’s a long, often frustrating process...
The story of Victor of Aveyron, the "wild child," illustrates this perfectly.
Raised in isolation without human contact, Victor was discovered around the age of 12 years old, after the critical window for language development had closed. Despite intensive efforts, he was never able to develop the ability to speak properly, reminding us just how vital early language exposure is.
So what can you do to support language development?
At Academicus, we know how important it is to make the most of this language learning window. That’s why we focus on providing children with a strong foundation in communication, reading, and writing in English. There’s no better time to start!
See you soon and you’ve totally got this!
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