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Some experts say that schools should initiate teaching a foreign language to the children right from the primary grade as it is more beneficial for them, compared to starting at secondary grade. This essay will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of learning a foreign language at primary school.
Major advantages of learning a new language in primary school is that it provides sufficient time for children to expertise in that language and helps them to choose a career option for them. Moreover, it is easier for a younger kid to learn something new in comparison to an older child. Firstly, initiating the process of teaching a foreign language to students from their primary grade provides them ample time to get the required training in that language and master it, and can help them (to) decide whether they want to a profession related to a linguistic field. For instance, nowadays most of the schools have an additional language as a compulsory subject for a primary school student, in which students can choose the language they want to learn. Secondly, as brains of younger children is (are) still in development stage, it is comparatively easier for them, to grasp the foreign language, than a secondary grade student.
However, teaching foreign language to younger children also have (has) some drawbacks such as, it can overburden kids with loads of new things to memorise, also, it can effect the child’s understanding of other major subjects which he/she may pursue in future. Subjects of a prrimary (primary) school student may not seem complex to us but it is handful for them, and adding a new language to that may cause a chaos in their heads. Moreover, primary grade is the stage where the basic knowledge of any subject is taught to the students which is essential to understand that subject in the later stages, but learning a new language may disrupt this foundation. For instance, if a child does not have a clear idea about the basic calculation methods in mathematics, taught in the primary school, there is no way he/she can understand the complex formulae in future.
To conclude, although learning a new language in initial stages of schooling have some drawbacks but the advantages surely outweigh the disadvantages of the same.
