The brain is different from early language acquisition

“The whole nature of the brain is different from early language acquisition,” said Dawn Deaton, who heads the foreign language program. “It’s just a tremendous advantage to children all the way around. The more they study the brain, the more compelling the arguments are; the longer you do it, the earlier you start, the more overall benefit you get beyond just learning another language.”

“A successful foreign language program needs to stand on its own merit, but it also has to be connected to our curriculum in a way that our youngsters are getting a double dose of learning,” Roberts said. “An example I often use is if in math we are studying cardinal and ordinal numbers, why wouldn’t we also learn cardinal and ordinal numbers in Spanish class?”

Studies show that students who learn a second language early in life have a much easier time picking up a third, or even a fourth, as they grow older.

http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/2011/05/18/foreign-language-program-set-for-improvements/