Give Your Child a Bigger World:
The Impact of Learning Languages

It's no surprise that babies naturally learn the language of the people around them. However, researchers report that when children learn language, they may also be acquiring lifelong social prejudices – or, in the case of bilingual kids – developing greater tolerance.

Recent research led by Elizabeth Spelke, PhD, who teaches cognitive psychology at Harvard, explores the connection between the ways children learn language and form social groups. Professor Spelke found that the language infants most commonly hear during their first six months leads to a quantifiable preference for speakers of that same language. These social preferences grow more pronounced as children grow older.

"Young infants prefer to look at a person who previously spoke their native language," Spelke reports, in a study recently published by the National Academy of Sciences. "Older infants preferentially accept toys from native-language speakers, and preschool children preferentially select native-language speakers as friends."

Spelke observes that the youngest children are highly adaptable when it comes to learning a new language. She suggests that social preferences – and prejudices – might be equally malleable at an early age. This implies that bilingual children do not merely learn language, they may also become inherently more tolerant, and accepting of differences in others.

Stephen Crain, PhD and professor of cognitive science at Macquarie University in Australia, affirms the link between language development and social preferences. "I've always thought it would be beneficial to expose our children to more than one language," he said, in a recent conversation with The Australian. "If they no longer have a prejudice against people who don't sound the same," said Professor Crain, speaking of bilingual children, "they may be more accepting of people from different backgrounds."

Learning language: We are what we speak?

"Speak, that I may see thee," wrote playwright Ben Jonson, suggesting that it is through language that we most clearly reveal ourselves. Indeed, when children learn a language, the benefits reach beyond communication, beyond immediate context – and stretch deep into the fiber of their character.

Madeline Mason was four years old when her family moved to Germany. When they returned to Pittsburgh, three years later, Madeline was fluent in German and spoke English as her second language. Her mother, Lisa Mason, promptly enrolled her in German classes at a local language school.

"Perhaps (being bilingual) just broadens her way of thinking," Lisa Mason told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She expressed strong support for her daughter's emerging biliteracy and the many opportunities it afforded. "I think it builds her self-confidence," she added.

The notion that our individual "character" is partly based on language comes from the ancient Greeks, whose word for an engraved mark, kharakter, later migrated into Middle English as carecter, meaning "imprint on the soul." It's been said that unless we learn the language of another person, we can never know her heart. For some, the relationship between identity and language is directly tied cultural heritage. Each year, for example, nearly 8,000 Chinese orphans are adopted by American parents, according to the U.S. State Department. Many of these adoptive parents have begun teaching their children to speak Chinese as a way of nurturing and protecting their special cultural identity. Similarly, bilingual children raised in immigrant households share a deep, immediate and abiding connection to their roots.

However, a growing number of savvy parents without a specific cultural or ancestral agenda are encouraging their kids to learn a second language. They realize that being bilingual, all by itself, can be a broadening experience. Historically, the United States owes much of its strength to its diversity. All across the nation, there are countless opportunities to learn from different cultures and ethnographic groups. Of course, the ultimate hope of multicultural and multilingual education is not merely to superficially expose children to other nationalities and peoples. Rather, the greater goal is to encourage children to accept – and grow accustomed to – the natural co-existence of many languages, cultures, lifestyles, and points of view.

Knowing who we are, and where we're going

New languages open new doors, making us realize how much more there is to explore. Strolling the streets of Paris, hiking the cloud-kissed ruins of Machu Picchu, or shopping in the colorful souks of Marrakesh – such experiences are vastly enriched when you speak the local tongue. Fluent speakers notice nuances and discern subtleties. When you learn the language, you'll hear the deep undertones of local culture – not merely the loud and obvious notes.

What's more – as any seasoned world-traveler will tell you – citizens of foreign countries are often very gratified when tourists take the trouble to learn their language. This is particularly true of Americans and the British, who have a wide reputation as English-only monolinguals. No matter how many travel guides you buy, or how much international history you learn, language will always be the true key to understanding new cultures.

Learn a language, sing a new song

"Language is what we use to tell stories, transmit knowledge, and build social bonds," writes Yale linguist Charles Yang, in his book The Infinite Gift. Yang observes that babies are similar to newborn birds. Even songbirds, he says, do not sing immediately at birth. Instead, they must be taught how to sing – listening, memorizing, practicing, and slowly building a repertoire – similar to the way children gradually learn language.

Decades of research have suggested that children are more likely to acquire a native-sounding accent if language learning takes place prior to adolescence. Experts such as Dr. Laura-Ann Petitto, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth University, believe that a greater degree of fluency is also achieved by would-be bilinguals that start at a young age. Given the right educational approach, the budding young linguist will soon be singing like a songbird, with a rich and multilingual repertoire.

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