10/29-IELTS Writing Task 2 -Matilda

When people should learn a foreign language has been the discussion for everyone. A group of people believe that kids have more advantages studying another language at an early age, while others believe that studying the language later in life has more benefits. From my perspective, both views have pros and cons; however, I slightly agree with the early language learning viewpoint.

People who start learning a foreign language (earlier) will speak more naturally and not feel embarrassed when making speaking mistakes. Young kids studying in a foreign language environment can more easily improve their speaking and listening skills because children at an early age learn languages by copying(imitating) the way adults talk. This can also explain why people learning languages at an early age can speak a foreign language more like native speakers. From my experience, I started studying English when I was in kindergarten, and we always had a native teacher beside us during the lesson. So we always spoke English, and everyone was a beginner, which means no one made fun of classmates who made any mistakes. Therefore, kids are more likely to speak English with each other. Later, my parents discovered that I spoke more fluently and had less accent than other later English learners. (However, early language learners are passive learners, so they might easily lose their interest. From my perspective, this factor is not a big deal because languages are just tools, so people do not necessarily need to become professional learners, which means studying enough of the foreign language that people need.)

People who learn a foreign language later are more active and continuous learners because there are certain reasons for studying, like for jobs, interest, relationships, and so on. For example, Korean dramas and groups became popular during my junior high school period. This trend had a huge influence on me and my friends because most of the break time people were discussing the hit Korean dramas and groups. Therefore, if individuals did not want to be left out, they should follow the trend. My friends and I started getting interested in the Korean trend, so we started studying Korean. One of my friends has continued studying it and has become advanced in listening and reading. However, her speaking is still at a beginner level because she feels awkward making speaking mistakes or having an accent. Therefore, the drawback of later foreign language learners caused me to think that early foreign language learners have a slight advantage.

To sum up, there are two groups of people who have different viewpoints on the age of studying foreign languages. The people who think early learning is better for their lives believe that younger children will have less accent and not worry about making mistakes. Others believe that later learners have more passion and motivation to study languages, which can be helpful in their lives. However, I believe early language learners take more benefits than later ones.