some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Learning a foreign language makes a concerted effort. As per some experts, it is better if children start learning a foreign language at the elementary level. While I believe that this idea has merits and demerits, I personally argue that this has more positive than negative effects.

The first positive effect is that young children who take foreign languages in their sensitive periods tend to be quick learners. A number of significant studies demonstrate that 90% of brain growth, function, and capacities occur by the second three years of life. As their brains are ripe to recognize that foreign words have different meaning if compared to vernacular ones, many young children boost their efficiency of grasping an opportunity to speak more than one language.

In addition, children who study foreign languages in their early years are closely relate to be high achievers. In a 1992 study on this topic, finding showed that nearly all the aforementioned students did school work required and did it well than monolingual peers. As it can be seen from the instance, young children learning a foreign language will experience the benefits of the language.

However, a negative side to this is the real impact on children’s first-language development. This because children are able to memorize foreign words as many as they can without having to communicate their mother tongue at home or school, something which is extremely important given the language development. For example, most Indonesian children studying in International schools have to speak and write in English, which is available in every place. As a result, children are able to interact with friends, teachers, and parents anywhere they choose such in classroom, canteen, or while they are at home. There is no doubt that this has radically affected the development of children's first language, which is Bahasa.

The aforementioned evidence shows that although years of communication with a foreign language have taken their toll on students’ mother tongue, schoolchildren will benefit greatly from the study of a foreign language. However, I strongly believe that primary school is the best time for children to learn a foreign language. Where possible, children should be taught both mother and foreign languages so as to support the language development.