Bilingual babies get a head start before they can even talk
Posted on April 18, 2009
Filed Under Bilingualism, Discussion, Europe, For kids, Italy |
Here’s an interesting finding from the National Geographic:
Even before they can babble a single word, babies in bilingual households may get a head start in life, according to a team of scientists in Italy. Rather than confusing babies, hearing more than one language gives newborns a mental boost, according to the new study, which tested seven-month-old infants.
“In many European countries, parents are wary of giving a bilingual education to their kids and try to speak only one language,” said study author Jacques Mehler of the Language, Cognition, and Development Lab at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy. “They are afraid [their children] might suffer when they get to school and so on,” Mehler said. “Because of our results, I doubt that very much.”
Read more of the article here.
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