Would you like your child to have strong language and problem-solving skills? A more flexible
brain? An ability to understand from another person’s perspective? If you would
like to help your child improve in any of
these areas, consider exposing your child
to a foreign language.
Children exposed to foreign language
may develop some valuable skills that
may surprise you.
Understanding Another Person’s
A recent study conducted at the Uni-
versity of Chicago found that children
exposed to more than one language
exhibit a better ability to consider
another person’s perspective. In this
study, children ages 4 to 6 were in a
position to see three cars—small, me-
dium, and large—but the adults could
only see the medium and large cars.
When an adult asked a child to move
“the small car,” the children who knew
a second language more often moved
the medium-sized car, understanding
that from the adult's perspective, it was
the smallest car the adult could see.
A child exposed to speakers of different languages must consider the speaker’s language before replying. This experience teaches a child early to think of his
audience when speaking and to consider
the needs of the other person when interacting with him.
by Kit Strauss
Learning a new language as an adult is a
fantastic way to exercise your brain—so
consider learning along with your child.