Learning a foreign language: the earlier the better?

RealMadrid1 (Spain)

Being exposed to foreign languages from birth is the best way to learn, otherwise from an age of two, or once they show the ability to concentrate on a task for more than a few minutes. Parental support is ESSENTIAL, as to become fluent in a language requires constant exposure and refreshing of the nuances of that language.

My daughter is fluent in Spanish, English and Chinese at 4 years old, being born and educated in Spain, with English and Chinese-speaking parents. It requires a lot of effort from my wife and I to keep her English and Chinese up to scratch, as she tends to lapse into Spanish when she cannot think of the word or phrase in the other languages.

Spending time with grandparents or relatives for extended periods of time during holidays always helps to refresh her skills. I am not sure when this constant refreshing of language no longer becomes necessary, I guess by the age of twelve or so, when I understand the human brain becomes "hard-wired".

An English class at a rural school in the suburbs of Hefei is taught by an American teacher, Sept 11, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]