What Is The Ideal Age To Learn English?
Jan 16, 2009 English Language Learning (ELL) 3044 Views
Learning English is something that you really have to do if you want to make it big in today's world. Between the type of English common in the United States and the one in the United Kingdom, most of the world's population is represented in terms of people that know how to speak the language. All of the major business is transacted in that language and everyone that happens to be rich, successful or otherwise powerful in the world today learned English at some point in their life.
Now that it has been established that learning English is essential, it is time to think about the different times in a person's life that learning it can be ideal. While there is no one particular ideal age there are times when it can be better to do so and those times are discussed at length below.
The absolutely most ideal age at which learning English can happen is at birth. When a baby speaks their first words, if those words are in English, then it will be the first language that they learn. This also makes it the easiest language for them to learn as many babies never end up learning another language after they have learned their initial one. Some people just have a mental block when it comes to learning languages, which is why English as their first language is absolutely the best way to go.
During Primary Schooling
If a child has not learned English as their first language, then the next best time to get them to learn it would be during the time in their life when they are thinking about doing primary schooling. Primary schooling is extremely important and allows children to expand their knowledge and grow on multiple fronts during the second group of formative years in their life (the first being their pre-school years). Because of the rapid rate at which children tend to learn at this age, English language training is definitely a good idea.
During Secondary Schooling
If a child has gone through the initial and primary school years of their life without learning English, then you will want to make sure that you start them on an English language learning course right away. While secondary school students are still learning a lot, the information that high school gives them is largely specialized information. This is quite different from the formative study they undertake in primary school which in turn means that teaching them something as basic as a new way of speaking is a lot harder to do.
During Post-Secondary Schooling
While a large argument is currently raging across academic circles at which time is better to learn English between secondary and post-secondary schooling, most people tend to believe that post-secondary schooling provides an environment that makes learning a new language a lot easier to do. People are exposed to new ideas and concepts that might completely change the way they look at and think about life in post-secondary school and that makes taking on big new challenges like learning English easier to do than it would be in secondary school.
As an Adult
It is possible for an out of school adult to learn English, but it is at the same time a lot harder to do. The thing that makes it easier for adults to learn it sometimes is the fact that adults that are out of school tend to have a far more disciplined approach to things like this and for that reason have the ability to grasp information pertinent to their life at a relatively quick pace.
You don't need to live in an English speaking country to learn how to speak English.