Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2022) - Washington DC and Virginia-based childhood development center, Communikids, is increasing bilingualism among US children. 43% of the world's population can speak more than one language, whereas less than a quarter of Americans are bilingual. Communikids offers classes, camps, and preschool teaching that revolve around enhancing children's language skills, which makes becoming multilingual significantly easier.
Studies have found a clear correlation between the age at which a child is exposed to a new language and the success that child will have in becoming fluent in that language. Since being founded in the early 2000s, Communikids is the only childhood development center of its kind that has built its philosophy around bilingualism and multilingualism.
"There's no better time to start learning a second language than when you're in preschool - children find it much easier to become bilingual than adults. You cannot teach a young child a quadratic equation, but you can teach that same child to speak Spanish or Mandarin, and they'll take to it much quicker than if they start in elementary school," outlines Communikids Co-Founder and CEO, Raul Echevarria.
It has repeatedly been shown that having an additional language in your linguistic arsenal can have various cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. For instance, multilingualism or bilingualism can help children enhance their problem-solving, multi-tasking, and creativity. Furthermore, becoming multilingual from an early age can improve children's working memories and increase children's capacity for flexible thinking, self-control, and attention.
It is thought that this could be linked to the fact that babies are born to differentiate between the sounds of any language in the world, but that this ability diminishes from around eight months. This is why Communikids is keen to emphasize to parents that the earlier their children start learning a language, the better.
The Washington DC and Virginia centers, which offer classes in Spanish, French, and Mandarin, base their curriculum on the 'Early Childhood Second Language' approach that is unique to Communikids. This is underpinned by the idea that, in order for children to have a well-rounded education, they need to be able to speak more than one language. In a society that is becoming more and more multicultural, being bilingual or multilingual enables children to thrive. Part of the Communikids approach is fully immersing the students in the culture of countries that speak the target language, giving them an appreciation of the food they eat, the music they listen to, and the prayers they pray, for example. This fosters an ability and a willingness to connect with people with different backgrounds of their own.
Communikids is in the 8% of preschools that have been awarded with the prestigious National Association for the Education of Young Children Accreditation. It is also partnering with Washington's District of Columbia to provide three and 4-year-old residents with preschool services for free.
Given that around 67% of Germans can speak at least one foreign language, and over half of EU citizens are either bilingual or multilingual, the US has some catching up to do, with only 23% of Americans being bilingual. Communikids seek to close the gap between these linguistically diverse nations and make it as easy as possible to learn another language by starting the process early.
Media Contact:
Name: Raul Echeverria
Email: raul@communikids.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/126384
