The Five Best Foreign Languages your Child should Learn

Studies have shown that children who learn more than one language gain enormous advantages, such as the ability to concentrate better, in spite of outside stimuli. The only question, then, is what language they should learn in order to give them that edge in their future. Here are the best choices, ranked according to advantages, learning difficulty and availability.
 
Take note that before you even consider a third language, your child should master English and Filipino first. Emphasis is given to the national language this month with August being declared "Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa".

In his studies on early developmental language learning, language expert Professor Kenneth Hyltenstam found that a child achieves greater fluency on the language he is most comfortable with if he or she focuses on learning it before the age of six or seven. After that age, introducing a new language is ideal.
 

5.  German
Advantages: German is still popular in Europe - it’s a language that can come in handy in native-speaking countries such as Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.  Even places such as Italy, Poland, and Hungary have many German speakers, as well as the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Croatia, Russia and other Eastern European nations. Many of these countries have venerable and prestigious universities that have strong backgrounds in pure and applied sciences such as physics, chemistry and medicine. A chance at a scholarship to one of these schools would be more accessible if a child were fluent in German.
 
Also, there is a demand for German-speakers for corporate postings in Asia, particularly in the banking and construction industries. Translators and transcribers are also fairly lucrative professions.
 
Difficulty: Quite a number of German words found their way into the English language (ex. Kindergarten, hamburger, poltergeist, Neanderthal), so there is some basis for comparison which your child can use while learning the language. Pronunciation can be challenging, saying tongue-twisters such as götterdämmerung, sturmpanzerwagen or entschuldigen sie bitte, but mastering German is also a good start for those who wish to learn other Northern European tongues such as Norwegian, Dutch and Finnish. Teachers are a bit hard to find outside of the Goethe Institute.  

 

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4. Arabic
Advantages: The Middle East has for many decades now been a source of gainful employment for Filipinos seeking work in various fields, from engineering to hairdressing. Although many Arab countries are restrictive in terms of cultural and behavioral norms, the financial benefits of working there are well known. Normally, fluency in Arabic is not required, but being able to understand, speak and read it will give your child greater freedom to explore his or her options in the Middle East, especially since practically everything there from street signs to advertisements are written in Arabic.  
 
Difficulty: The reading and writing aspect can be challenging to teach, given that Arabic uses its own distinct cursive-style alphabet, which can be challenging to read for one familiar with Roman block print. Also, Arabic classes are not easily found anywhere else save for Islamic schools.
 

3. Japanese
Advantages: Though not as wealthy or successful as it was in the 1990s, Japan is still an economic and cultural force to be reckoned with. Many of the most ubiquitous products come from Sony, Toyota, Nintendo, Honda, Mitsubishi and other Japanese corporate powerhouses. Tapping into that market and taking advantage of job opportunities at the main offices of these companies requires a fluency in Japanese. Plus, your child will get the side benefit of being able to watch all the anime he or she wants without subtitles.  
 
Difficulty: Japanese has three character writing systems: katakana, hiragana and kanji. Mastering the first two is essential to grounding in the language but kanji will be necessary to mastering Japanese. As for linguistic similarities, Chinese and Korean are the languages that come close so many children will have to start from scratch to learn. But then again, there’s always the incentive of watching anime without subtitles. Fortunately, it’s not too hard finding a Japanese teacher, although they are usually at either universities or cultural embassies.

 

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2. Spanish
Advantages: Spanish is spoken all over the United States, South America and Europe. That’s three whole continents where you can find it, and that’s not including former Spanish colonies such as the ones in the Caribbean and Africa. For the world traveler or jet-setting professional, this wide a scope can be a great advantage. Furthermore, as a Romance language, Spanish shares much in common with sister tongues such as French, Portuguese and Italian, thus making it easier to understand the basics of those languages, or even pick them up, if one is an ambitious polyglot.
 
Difficulty: Spanish teachers and schools are not hard to find. Plus, not only does it use the Roman alphabet, many Filipino words have Spanish origins so your child should have little difficulty in picking it up. One annoying aspect of learning Spanish is getting used to the gender tenses (los gatos for a group of male cats, las gatas for females, etc.), as they don’t occur in either English or Filipino.
 

1. Mandarin
Advantages: Very few things are not made in China. Very few things are not affected by China. The whole world is watching this economic and geo-political behemoth and there are many careers available to those who are up to the challenge. There is also this little fact that Chinese speakers are the most numerous on the planet. Being able to speak, read and write the core unifying language of these people will be an immense advantage to your child in the future.
 
Difficulty: Mandarin is one of the hardest languages to learn but fortunately, there are a lot of primary and secondary schools in Manila that incorporate it as part of their curriculum.  However, if you plan on your child getting a head start in Mandarin, it would be best to start your child out in a Chinese school instead of transferring her there later.  
 


Photo by Peter Gene via flickr creative commons