There are many reasons to teach your child to speak another language. Many school curriculums now include foreign languages, some from a very early age, such as preschool. If your child’s school does not include foreign language in its curriculum, you should take steps to facilitate instruction yourself.

Travel Convenience
Speaking a foreign language makes it easy for your child to travel comfortably to another location. Whether it is for business or a family vacation, your child will reap the social and economic benefits of speaking more than one language.  Also, your child will be able to grasp the culture of the region where the language is spoken, which will ultimately expand their horizons.

Greater Job Opportunities
Many jobs require foreign language capability, both in customer service-oriented positions as well as sales and executive positions. Having a foreign language skill could help your child find work during college or when he is still working on his other skills.  Even after college, knowing a secondary language will make your child more desirable to future employers, compared to those who speak a single language.

Great Understanding of the World
Much of a country’s habits, attitudes and outlooks are embodied in its language. By learning another language, your child will begin to think about how people with different backgrounds look at the world.  When a child has a larger understanding of the world around them, they generally develop a curiosity for learning that lasts for a lifetime.

Self-Esteem
Learning a skill and being able to practice it is a great boost to a child’s self-esteem at time in life when that can be fragile. Watch your child’s face when he helps a tourist from another country find the right street only because he was able to understand a foreign language and you’ll see what a boost this is to your child’s ego.

Greater Educational Opportunities 
When it comes time to apply for college entrance, special skills, especially those that show an extra effort and initiative, will set your child apart from the crowd.  Some colleges offer foreign language tests that give your child a varied amount of credit hours that count towards their graduation, if passed of course.

Study abroad programs also open up when children are fluent in a secondary language, which  can broaden their horizons even more.

Understanding World Events
Knowing a foreign language will make it easier for your child to understand what is happening in the world because he will be able to read foreign language newspapers. Many people don’t realize that international news stories are reported differently in different countries.

Understanding International Media
Not all recently-released novels are available in every language. Learning a foreign language will allow your child to read novels released in foreign countries and discuss them intelligently. Though once only America produced great films, this is no longer so. Speaking a foreign language will allow your child to enjoy cinematic viewpoints from all over the world without subtitles.

There are almost no cons to knowing a secondary language.  Children pick up on languages extremely quickly compared to adults, which is the main argument to educate children in foreign languages.  Future job opportunities, understanding their world, as well as preparing them for a college education all come along with learning another language.  Another language can do nothing but help your child, and maybe even yourself, in the long run.

About the Author:- Author Amanda Lee is a career counselor and content contributor for home tuition Singapore, a program emphasizing the importance of teaching English and Chinese to young children for increased international opportunities.