Learning French - it's child's play
TODDLERS can learn a second language at 20 months, just as they are still learning their own native tongue, a study reveals.
The tots’ minds have developed enough to master basic skills before they get used to talking and listening in their first language.
It is the age when children growing up in bilingual homes begin to become proficient in both languages.
And it is the right time for parents who only speak one language to start introducing foreign words, phrases and even sentences to their children, the study says.
Researchers at Paris Descartes University were trying to get French children to understand simple instructions in English.
All of the 24 youngsters came from homes where only French was spoken, said the team. Instructions, such as telling them to put a ball in a cup, included words they had yet to learn in French as well as English.
The results showed the little ones picking up English instructions as quickly as they learned the French ones.
Researchers said the study showed that “20-month-olds have developed mature word learning mechanisms”.