Monday, February 22, 2010

RRJ#3

Reference:

Aiyar, S. (2010, January 31). Don’t teach English to your children in Class 1. The Economic Times. Retrieved February 15, 2010, from
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/columnists/swaminathan-s-a-aiyar/Dont-teach-English-to-your-children-in-Class-I/articleshow/5518821.cms

Summary:

According to the NGO Pratham, Gujarat, the city in India, had the worst record about English skills. The Gujarat government offers to teach English in Class 1 for improving the problem and joining the globalization. However, according to the Global research, it is a mistake. They mention that children should learn reading and writing from the tongue of their mother because it makes learning a second language much easier. Teaching of a second language earlier for children can’t give them learning to read faster in their mother tongue. Actually, children who are under 8 years old assimilate the new language most easily. Also, learning the first language gives children more good realizing networks of their mind. Although the skills of English are definitely important for improving our ability to make the money, children should become good in their language first because it makes them skilled in English more easily. Therefore, introducing English from Class 1 will be a severe mistake. The most important thing is reading and writing in the tongue of their mother.

Reaction:

Before I read the article, I was thinking that starting learning another language as soon as possible is a good thing for children. However, I learned that it is the most important to learn their own language first. English is the most common language in the world, and a lot of people try to learn it. Therefore, a lot of people think and have interest in it. I found some interesting information from the article. It is that rich children with pre-school education have 6 times as much vocabulary as poor children. When poor children enter school, they already have some handicaps. It is unfair because it is not their fault. They might be not able to communicate with their parents a lot because of their works. Before the government proposes to teach English, they should think about such situation. This situation will happen not only in India but also in many countries that have a large difference in earning.

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