Bilinguals cognitive advantage
Every child is a born linguist. He or she can easily become bilingual (speak two languages fluently) and even multilingual (speak three or more languages fluently). But this wonderful ability often ceases with age.
Children’s natural genius for language generally occurs during the sensitive period (a period of extra receptivity) which usually extends from the time they are born until the age of 9. Throughout this time basic speech skills form, perfectly exposing a child’s brain to learning and receiving any spoken language. Languages are learnt with greater difficulty between ages 9-12. From ages 25-50, there is little variation in the efficiency of learning; it generally is challenging to learn a language from age 25 onwards.
Health and intelligence benefits
If you have sceptical members of your family who do not understand all the advantages of bilingual education or, even worse, try to resist it, then this chapter is for them. Canadian researches Peal and Lambert (1962) discovered that their bilingual children showed superior performance on measures of verbal intelligence and on nonverbal tests compared to monolingual children.
Their memory is able to hold more information, their brain is more flexible and dynamic, which allows them to quickly switch from one task to another, and their nervous system is more stable.
British scientists under the leadership of A. Micelli revealed that bilingual children have more active lifestyles, and they have allocated more grey matter than children who speak one language. These findings were especially true for children who spoke two languages from childhood ("early bilinguals"). Research by Simon Tusk has found that bilingual adults have faster thought processes and reactions.
Canadian psychologist Ellen Bialystok found in her research that the brain of bilinguals is subject to ageing to a much lesser extent, allowing them to maintain longer clarity and alertness of mind in old age. The need to choose between two or more languages provokes incessant brain stimulation, which in turn slows down ageing and inhibits the development of Alzheimer's disease.
According to research by Kessler and Quinn, as well as Californian psychology Professor Dean Simonton, bilingualism develops creativity, which is expressed in the ability to look at things from a different perspective and solve problems in a unique way. Your child will be able to think creatively and express themselves creatively, and creative thinking is one of the key skills in our time.
Research in the field of explanatory function has shown that such children make the right decisions faster, it is easier for them to concentrate and achieve their goals. Moreover, bilingual children develop executive functions earlier - at the age of 3,
compared to monolingual children (4-5 years).
The speed of thought processes in bilinguals is faster than in monolingual children. Numerous studies have shown that the IQ level of these children is higher than that of children who speak only one language (Peal, Lambert).
With the early acquisition of a second language, a child develops phonemic awareness that allows him or her to distinguish accents and pronunciation variants, and later - to speak their target language without an accent. With age, a person's ability to perceive unfamiliar sounds and imitate them decreases, which leads to speaking with an accent.
If a professional nanny or governess constantly communicates with a child, then his or her outlook will be wider which will make the child open to different types of thinking and able to absorb the best of Russian and English cultures. To be bilingual means to feel that you belong to both civilizations, to be a bearer of not one but two rich cultures, to respect your own and others ' values, to have humanity and empathy.
Communication with a highly qualified nanny or governess-a representative of British culture-develops in the child the socially necessary skills of a successful person. In addition to the constant care and creating a comfortable atmosphere for the development and education of your child, the English nanny teaches him or her etiquette, manners, empathy, behaviour in society and instils in him or her the qualities of a well-mannered and confident person. The experience of communicating with people of different cultures makes your child more flexible to accept different opinions and approaches. A bearer of another culture, of course, arouses the interest of the child, which helps to expand his horizons.
Most Western studies and scientific papers confirm that bilingualism has a positive effect on the development of children. Russian scientists agree with them. Famous Soviet psychologist L. S. Vygotsky argued that the impact of various language systems on a child leads to mental development. Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor of Moscow State University A. G. Shmelev is sure that the method of creating an artificial language environment has a positive impact on the development of the child's speech and has a very favourable effect on the development of the child's intelligence and personality.
Language geniuses: children have an incredible memory for languages
"This then is the period of life in which the child's brain is an open door to all information. During this period of life, he takes in all information without conscious effort of any sort. This is the period of life in which he can learn to read easily and naturally. He should be given the opportunity to do so." states Glen Doman, the author of the book How to Teach Your Baby to Read.
During the first six years of life, children learn in three times faster than they do for the rest of their lives. And there is nothing strange about this: children simply explore everything that they find interesting and thereby consume great amounts of information. The word "knowledge" is not synonymous with the word "education". Education begins at the age of six, and knowledge - from the very beginning, from the moment of birth.
Problems with education arise when adults excessively limit small researchers’ access to sources of information, assuming that they are too young to comprehend it. A child's brain can absorb enormous amounts of information (And it can be documented if we pay attention to the speed with which continuous acquisition of knowledge increases in a child's brain). It may sound incredible, but what a child can learn in a few months, an adult will spend years attempting to learn!
I have yet to see a healthy child who has not learned to speak a language. Some learn earlier, some learn later, some are more engaged, some are less engaged, but all children begin to speak at some point. Mastering languages is easy for them. Therefore, a child who lives in a bilingual environment masters two languages easily. If children are surrounded by three languages in their home, they will speak all three. Children seem genetically programmed to speak the languages used around them.
Learning a foreign language is a very difficult task for adults, and only a small percentage learn to speak an additional language perfectly. If adults competed with children to win a foreign language learning competition, the sole prize in the adult category would be an inferiority complex.
We can see a spectacular example of children’s language learning abilities in families of immigrants who moved to the UK with their young children. A year later, the children were fluent in English and pronounced English words perfectly while the adults were able to express themselves on a basic level, but never reached the levels of their children. This miracle of the linguistic genius of children is called in linguistic literature the "imprinting" of a language.
Kids love to learn new things and are not afraid to make mistakes, and a comfortable environment and natural learning will only help them with language acquisition. Drawing, modelling, fairy tales, poems, songs, favourite cartoon characters who speak English will be an incentive to learn a second language.The only question is, are we able to provide a suitable environment for the growth and development of our children's linguistic genius? It can be compared with a grain, which is able to germinate and bear fruit. The more opportunities we give to our children to be smart, the smarter they become.
INTERESTING FACT
Latest research has shown that in their first 6 months of life children can discern different sounds and languages. An experiment at British Columbia University has stated that babies can read people’s lips.
Japanese children can discern sounds that are absent in Japanese. When they reach adulthood, they don`t hear the differences. English-speaking toddlers can discern complicated sounds that differ from English such as those of German or Swedish. (Later, without practice, children lose this ability).
Children seek new knowledge
Continual interest in new things is a quality that we adults should learn from our children. If you have the financial opportunity to teach your child two or three languages, there is no rational explanation as to why your child should be deprived of this.
At the heart of any child's learning process there is interest and curiosity. Children learn constantly by studying the environment, people, objects, etc. In the process of learning, it is necessary to interest a child, create conditions in which it will be comfortable and interesting to learn.
From the moment when a child begins to communicate freely in the language, there must be an educated and intelligent person who can satisfy the child’s hunger for knowledge, answering his or her endless "why". The task of the environment and family is to encourage these questions in every possible way, fostering the need and inclination for new knowledge. The more knowledge a child has, the more developed that child will be, the wider his or her horizons will be.
For the process of learning a second language to be easier, the person who teaches it should know what the child is interested in, what he or she likes, how certain actions affect the child’s mood and only then look for an approach to the formation of new interests in the child. The child's immersion in a new language should be dosed. An adult can ask the child to help clean the room, or bring a children's magazine that they want to read to the child, thus involving them in natural learning during everyday life.
Time,money and forces economy
Psychologists say studying English is a merry game for children; it brings them pleasure and is not difficult.
A skilled nanny from abroad is expensive, but a child (and subsequently an adult) who doesn’t speak English is far more expensive in the long-term.
It sounds like a paradox, but very often it is true. As a famous Russian idiom says: "A miser pays twice". Imagine how much money you’ll spend if you hire an English tutor for an older child or for a school graduate preparing to enter a university! And how hard it will be psychologically forcing an adult to do his English homework… when a bilingual child doesn’t have to spend too much time at his English homework and can dedicate this time to self-development.
It is usually impossible to learn English to the level of a native speaker at school age without a tutor. Classes with a native English tutor are expensive, the learning process takes a very long time, and the result is unknown and obviously worse than of those who have learned the language from birth. A child has the opportunity to develop in other directions, for which he or she would simply not have enough time if he or she were forced to learn huge texts by heart and learn new words. Summer language camps in England are very expensive and, unfortunately, usually do not bring the expected results. Children from Russia tend to stay together and communicate in the Russian language. In addition, the motivation to learn the language in older children and adolescents is significantly reduced. So why not teach your child English from an early age through natural immersion in the language environment, when they are happy to explore the world?
English is one of the richest languages in terms of searching for useful information. If a child speaks English, his opportunities bill be much wider. They can easily find interesting articles and publications for their essay on the Internet, understand what their favourite foreign bands are singing about, expand their circle of communication with English-speaking friends, read their favourite books in the original and watch movies without subtitles. Also, they will get used to studying, living or working abroad much faster and will feel comfortable there.
Your child will have to learn English in any case, and how comfortable, natural and successful the learning environment will depend on you.
Discipline
British nannies can use a soft or strict approach to a child depending on the parents’ position on discipline (London Montessori College for Teachers and Nannies graduates are known for this approach). However, these are specialists who don’t educate spoilt children and don’t indulge their caprices. They master methods of changing environments and situations when a child is in a bad mood. An English nanny will always calmly explain to a child the discipline requirements and why they should be followed. Being calm and reasonable is a typical distinguished feature of British childcare specialists. Discipline does not mean physical punishment, but intellectual development, and encouraging of independence and personal characteristics.
New possibilities
English will develop and enrich your child’s mind.
Today, the English language is an important tool; nearly a billion people on planet Earth speak it. This fact makes English one of the most expansive communication tools used worldwide. As with all languages, there are different means of communicating in English: verbally or in writing, over television, through radio or newspapers. That’s why English has become a part of school programmes as a subject that gives additional means of communication to a child apart from his mother tongue.
It is impossible to teach English to a baby. But you can ensure that English will become his mother tongue.
The English language is essential to so many professions, from science to banking. English is a key to new possibilities in various spheres: education, culture, science, business.
Knowledge of English simplifies the process of obtaining information. Fluency in English can open doors to the best universities in the United States and Great Britain, and high-quality European education will help you get an interesting and prestigious position both in Russia and abroad in the future. The majority of books about financial markets, the global economy, and world politics is written in English. Reading books in the original will help you learn more about the topic and immerse yourself in the language without relying on the translator's talent and vocabulary.
Most computer programs are written in the United States. Your child will be able to better navigate in a foreign country, will have more friends, including from other countries. Your child will be more independent from early childhood, your child will be better than us.
When learning a language as an adult, we often encounter a number of difficulties that reduce our motivation to learn. The need to pass an exam or improve your language skills to pass an important interview is not enough, the learning process seems boring, time-consuming, associated with a number of fears and attitudes like "it's too difficult", "I don't have the ability". It can be difficult to convince a high school student that speaking English fluently will open a huge number of doors for him because in addition to English there are a large number of other subjects, responsibilities and interests that need to be focused on.
The love of learning foreign languages and cultures should be instilled in childhood, when children are still free from the fear of making mistakes, being misunderstood when learning is given to them easily and naturally - in a playful and comfortable form that has nothing to do with boring lessons and cramming grammar. Learning a language doesn't have to be a time-consuming process. Let your child speak and think in a foreign language as easily as they do in their native language, and our British nannies and governesses will make sure that learning is interesting, comfortable and fun.
Security
IIn Great Britain, not everybody can get nanny qualifications. It requires extensive knowledge of child development and a big sense of responsibility. In Britain, it is considered a prestigious job.
An English nanny requires high professionalism based on an excellent education, good manners and etiquette and, of course, impeccable English which is so important today. In Great Britain, professional nannies and governesses are highly-remunerated, and their prestigious work constantly is requested in the whole world. There is a range of recognized institutes like Norland, Chiltern Nannies, London Montessori Nanny school and more where tuition costs some thousands of pounds per semester.
Qualified nannies attend special 2-3 year-long courses on child development from 0 to 7 y.o. (see the link to Childcare development certificates (nannies and governesses). These courses provide them with theoretical and empirical knowledge pertaining to children’s physical and social development in addition to their educational and intellectual and emotional needs at different ages. Topics of correct daily care and health are studied, along with early development, developing games, pediatric first aid (how to apply first aid measures in case of an accident), illness treatment and its prophylaxis, child’s psychology, nanny-family relationships, working with parents; and parents` post-natal psychology. A nanny studies nearly 18 disciplines on childcare.
A special course - Creative Skills - teaches a nanny on how to develop a child with the help of games and creative practices. A nanny must know how to react correctly to a child’s provocative behaviour, and she must adjust herself to a child’s mood and respond accordingly.
An au pair often have a degree in the childcare and teaching field but have no experience.
