Specialists are unanimous in their opinion: exposing a child to two languages from birth is the best way for the child to become bilingual.

• In fact, this language exposure can even begin during pregnancy! According to a report on early childhood development by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the United States, the capacity to learn a language is optimal from the 34th week of pregnancy until the age of 12 months, during the period when the brain synapses are forming.
• Specialists agree that there is a decline in the ability to learn a second language after about the age of 6 or 7.
• Myth: Some people claim that it is better to wait for a child to learn the basics of a language well, before making the child learn another language. This way, we think that the child will be able to "transfer" the knowledge learned to the new language. Reality:  Even though the child could be learning a second language well at an early age, by not exposing the child to that language we could be depriving the child of several years of optimal learning.

To read more, visit our bilingual website 1 enfant 2 langues.