Per NALDIC, the national subject association for English as an additional language in the UK introduction to its enthusiastic drive towards bilingualism says: “In many parts of the world it is common for children to be exposed to two or even more languages right from birth, but bilingualism is a relatively new phenomenon in most of Europe. As a consequence, growing up with more than one language is often regarded as ‘special’ and even ‘dangerous’ for a child’s development, and bilingualism is still surrounded by negative beliefs and misunderstandings.” So are Bilingualism Matters today this vital?
In most of the MENA countries, this is not the case as most people in all walks of life from their schooling days to adulthood are exposed to several languages in very specific and differing arrangements.
Here is an article published on Medium on the obvious benefits of bilingualism as felt in the US’s west coast established French school’s Mehdi Lazar, Head of School @EcoleBilingue & Associate Researcher @SorbonneParis1.
The benefits of an early immersive education
In our increasingly globalized world, the topic of bilingualism is becoming important for parents.
In the last 20 years or so, there’s also been a explosion of research on bilingualism and the general public is now more informed about the broad benefits of bilingualism (improved executive functions, strong intercultural capacity, open-mindedness, among others).
Ecole Bilingue’s head of school Mehdi Lazar talks in this video about the benefits of bilingualism and early immersive education. The segment aired on March 4, 2018 on the CBS TV talk show Bay Area Focus.
More reading on related subjects are:
- · Bilingual
- · Bilingualism
- · Language
- · Language Learning
- · Education
