Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than in secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
According to many educationalists, children should study a non-native language from elementary school instead of higher secondary school. In my opinion, this has more benefits than drawbacks. It may be a waste of time to study a foreign dialect, and it may pose an obstacle to learning the mother tongue language.
In order to learn a particular language, the students have to draw attention to the background culture corresponding to that language. What’s more, it will engender a consequence of wasting time which may adversely influence the study of other subjects such as maths. Above all, the students at this period of age have not harnessed their mother tongue language expertly in practice. As a result, learning non-language unduly in primary school will impact students’ mother tongue language expression.
In spite of these disadvantages I mentioned, I still believe learning a second language at primary school age is more advantageous. The students at this age usually have a solid curiosity which can propel them to study hard and be desirable to acquire knowledge about language. And those students have a solid ability to imitate, so they can improve their pronunciation rapidly and authentically. Compared with adults, they seldom feel awkward, so they can communicate with native speakers fearless. They can quickly know about background culture during communication, which will not occupy more time.
In conclusion, the disadvantages of learning a foreign language at primary school are negligible compared to the benefits it provides. And the advantages I mentioned seem that is a problem that can be neglected.