When to start learnig a second language

One of the things that parents have in common around the world is providing their sons with the command of a second language when they are still little children. The globalized world demands the learning of, at least, two languages, and bilingual schools offer this possibility for early child education. But the benefits of an early bilingualism go beyond. It is proved that those children who are exposed to several languages when they are very young are more creative and develop more skills. Learning a second language help to program our neural circuits, this means that it will make easier the study of new languages in the future.

But, when is the best moment to start learning another language? Experts on evolutionary psychology agree that once the knowledge of the mother tongue is enough for the child to be able to associate a word with an object, it is only at that moment when it is recommended the learning of another foreign or second language. That is to say, never start learning another new language when the child is 4 or younger. It is at this moment of the psychological evolution when a child offers any resistance to understand simple messages in other foreign languages and repeat them a short time later with an amazing ability to imitate new accents and sounds.

Children must get to like a language and enjoy it. We should not forget that the results will become evident in the long term, so that the best thing is be patient and acquire a second language, not study it as a school subject with exercises, rules and exam papers.

Seven reasons to learn English

Linguistic barriers should not be a problem in your life. Do not wait to see your career and life cut short because of not knowing English. We say to you seven reasons why you must start studying English.  Knowing more than one language improves our memory and cognitive skills. Let’s start!

1. More than the 85% of Webpages are written in English. If you are fluent in that language the Internet would not have barriers for you.
2. English is the official language of many countries in the world, so that you can travel to many places and not have problems when speaking and living with native people.
3. You will have more job opportunities, since when it comes to look for a new job bilingual people have more possibilities to get the position. Especially if the second language he or she knows is English.
4. You will understand films, since most of the films of the film industry are in English. The person who knows this language understands in a better way the plot of a film.
5. You will learn more interesting things when travelling abroad. Because you could have conversations and mix yourself with native people who explain and show you the essence of the country or region you travel to.
6. You will be learn more things about the world of computers, especially if you are interested in the world of software, since most of the programs are in English.
7. You will acquire knowledge of other interesting topics you are interested in, since most of the writings, essays and scientific studies are written in English. If you do not know English you will not have access to all that information.

Are English language and Spanish people compatible?

Many Spanish people still travel abroad and feel lost when it comes to ask something or talk to someone in English. We feel uncomfortable even when doing online shopping in English. That is the result of a survey carried out by Cambridge University Press, which shows the relationship between Spanish people and the Anglo-Saxon language. It says Spaniards have improved a little with that language, but there are still many people scared of speaking English.

The 91% of people think that the biggest burden in order to start learning English is the fear of making a fool of yourself in public. People must learn from our Nordic friends from Sweden, Holland, Germany, etc. who study a course of Spanish, learn three words and they dare to practice our language with native people. That type of behaviour doesn’t exist in Spain. We only have to see we have the 30% of unemployment in the country and more than the half of people surveyed stated that they would not go abroad to look for a job because of their complexes when it comes to speak English.

Only the 20% of people who took part in the survey were studying English at that moment, despite the other 80% of people were unhappy with their level of English. So as readers could imagine Spanish people failed English, but even so, other surveys show that the new generations of Spaniards will speak better English in future years.

English: Revelant language in the world of business and travelling

If we are thinking about getting a job English is really important because nowadays most of the companies and businesses have international customers who prefer talking in English in order to sign agreements, solve incidences and problems, etc., instead of using their own native languages. 

But if what you really feel like is travelling and understand local citizens stop worrying anymore about that! Most of the people in the world know English and even if you have a high level and the other people have a lower one communication will be possible. But you don’t necessarily have to travel abroad if what you want is speaking English, nowadays due to immigration and people moving from countryside to the city, even living in Spain speaking a common language as English is really important.

Let’s see a clearer example and think about India, which is a place where people from different places live and many languages coexist. The solution for that was to choose English as the main used language in that country, so that, there are many different nationalities but all of them know how to speak and interact in English. Everybody there can take part in discussions, having a chat with talkative shopkeepers and make a lot of friends there.

Consulte el último número de la revista Formación Universitaria Digital

Si su objetivo es encontrar empleo, en el número de febrero de la revista Formación Universitaria Digital encontrará todo tipo de recomendaciones para aumentar sus posibilidades.

Lo principal a la hora de buscar trabajo es conocer los lugares en los que se encuentran las ofertas. Además, saber cuáles son las habilidades más demandadas por las empresas permite adaptar el perfil profesional a estos requerimientos.

Invertir en formación es una de las principales opciones a la hora de reorientar la carrera profesional y ampliar el horizonte laboral. Acreditar conocimientos en materias como inglés o informática puede aumentar las  posibilidades de empleo tanto en España como en el extranjero.

Para ampliar la información sobre estos temas, acceda a la web de Formación Universitaria y consulte nuestra revista.