Why should we learn a second language? Well, learning a second language can increase cognitive growth, improve our social skills and increase our odds of being hired for a job. By gaining a second language during elementary school, children can gain all of those benefits, which would help them prepare for college and the real world.

Learning foreign languages has many cognitive benefits. One crucial cognitive advantage is multitasking. Studies from Cornell and Penn State have shown that those who are bilingual are better at focusing their attention and prioritizing a specific task.

As college students, we often have to balance school, work, clubs or other activities. By learning a second language at a young age, we will already have the skills necessary to multitask and manage our time, which can lead to academic success. By gaining a second language in elementary schools, we would have the cognitive skills to succeed in college.

Furthermore, it can improve one’s communication skills. As a child learns a non-native language, they have to pay attention to a language’s grammatical and sentence structure. These skills can then be applied to improve one’s native language as well. This allows one person to communicate their ideas more effectively.

Learning a second language can also potentially make one more empathetic. As a person acquires a new language, they will also gain more information about the culture surrounding it, granting them a greater understanding of a society, and thus are more likely to be empathetic to others. The point of college is to explore new ideas, cultures and viewpoints. Through the study of foreign language, not only will we be able to communicate our ideas more effectively, but we will also have an easier time understanding different cultures and beliefs.

Finally, learning a second language can increase the odds of being hired for a job. As the world becomes more and more connected, many jobs are seeking bilingual speakers to reach a broader audience. The New American Economy reports that the demand for bilingual speakers has doubled in five years since 2010. The point of college is to earn a degree to improve your marketability for a job. By having the ability to speak more than one language you have significantly increased the odds of being hired.

Why should we learn a second language in elementary school, as opposed to in high school or college? Well, a child’s brain has higher neuroplasticity than an adult brain, meaning that a child is more susceptible to forming or deleting neural connections, which makes it easier for them to learn a second language. The skills they learn will then be able to help them throughout life and allow them to better adapt to college or finding a job. So how should we implement it in the public education system?

Some elementary schools have a “special period,” meaning during a certain allotted time they are taught a different subject each day. For example, in my elementary school, on Mondays, we would have PE, while on Tuesdays, we would be discussing current events. We could implement a second language class, like Spanish, into that special period block, where the students would learn basic grammatical structures or key phrases.

Basically, we could be teaching a semester’s worth of a foreign language and spread it out through a student’s elementary school’s career. For example, in kindergarten, students could be taught the alphabet in a certain language, while in fifth grade they could learn about certain grammatical rules like the preterite and the imperfect.

At NC State, as part of our GEP requirements, we must show proficiency in a foreign language, and in certain departments, like the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, students are required to take a 200-level language course. If students already had a background in foreign language, it is possible that NC State may drop the requirement if many students were already taught a second language. Barring that, fulfilling the requirement would become much easier for all students.

It would greatly benefit our university if second language education began at a young age. As such, we should start teaching a second language in elementary school to take full advantage of young brains’ neuroplasticity, which in turn would allow future students to receive the cognitive benefits, making them more prepared for college and the real world.