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Article: The Time and Place for Learning a Foreign Language
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 4, 2006
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Dear Extra Credit:
Your April 20 column featured a letter wondering about the benefit
of beginning foreign language study in the sixth grade instead of the
normal seventh-grade program offered by the child's local school.
From what I have read and experienced, age 11 or 12 is actually
somewhat late to begin the study of a foreign language if one's
intent is to develop maximum comprehension and fluency with minimal
accent. Brain development is apparently most favorable to gaining new
language skills before age 10 or so. Teenagers and adults are usually
able to learn foreign languages under the right circumstances, but
generally they would have learned better if they had begun earlier.
This is ...