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Naima Karimi is proud that her daughter Tiffany Nkatha can speak four languages. English, Kiswahili, French and her mother tongue, Kimeru.
Tiffany, 16 years old and in Form Three, started learning French when she was 13 and seems to have an affinity for languages.
“She is good at languages and always excels in them. She is also good at writing. She intends to learn German too and, if possible, Chinese,” Ms Karimi says proudly.
Such a revelation from a parent, no matter how humble, brings to the core the level of importance we place on children learning other languages apart from the English they encounter in schools and in middle class homes.
To a larger extent, Kenyans are progressive when it comes to mastery of languages since most children grow up learning English, Kiswahili and, for some, their mother tongue. Majority of schools also teach a host of foreign languages including French, German and recently Chinese.
But encouraging your children to learn more than one language is not merely a response to a fad or a means to show off how clever your children are. There are incredible psychological benefits of learning another language. These benefits extend way beyond being able to ask for a glass of water or order a plate of food, according to research.
The brain, like any muscle, functions better with exercise. Learning a language involves memorising rules and vocabulary, which helps strengthen that mental muscle.
Edwin Mwai, a Sociology and Communication lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology says that learning additional languages increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the mind in young children.
“After learning their mother tongue at home, which is crucial for their cultural identity, children learn other languages at school and adapt them better than adults can.
The elements of spoken English and Kiswahili are practiced and enhanced through songs, stories and nursery rhymes, and modelled and explored as the children enter their little, fun world of role playing. This is absolutely critical for psychological growth,” says Mr Mwai.
Suffice to say western societies are disadvantaged when it comes to the language issue since many use their languages as the means of instruction in schools, and children are therefore not exposed to any other language.
The colonial legacy left Africa dependent on foreign languages as a means of fostering nationalism amid societies fragmented by ethnicity. The idea worked well since African children were exposed to European culture through European languages and this broadened their world outlook.
Government policies
A lot has also been made out of the fact that teaching children to communicate in their mother tongue strengthens tribal divisions since the cosmopolitan nature of schools especially in cities is too nascent. A fact that has been challenged by scholars such as Prof Ngugi wa Thio’go, a noted writer, who in an interview with a local blog said: “We need progressive government policies that enable people to be proud of their mother tongues.
The Education minister must make it illegal for any child to be punished because of speaking their mother tongue in schools. When a child is punished because of using the language that is natural to them, it creates negativity in the way the language is viewed.”
Extensive research on the benefits of learning other languages has been done by Dr Pascual-Leone, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
His research provides an important first step in understanding the impact of learning a second language and the ageing brain. This research paves the way for future causal studies of bilingualism and cognitive decline prevention.
Simply, the younger the learner, the better they are at mimicking new sounds and adopting pronunciation. The brain is open to new sounds and patterns in preadolescence.
Children who grow up learning about languages and mastering other languages apart from their own, develop love and understanding for others, and a curiosity for different cultures and ideas.
They become prepared to take their place in a global society. Furthermore, in later years, career opportunities increase for those with additional languages to offer.
An eye opening research by renowned cognitive neurologist Ellen Bialystok points out that regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Aging multi-linguals (those who speak more than one language) have better cognitive functioning than aging monolinguals (those who speak only one language). Medical records of 400 Alzheimer’s patients show that multi-linguals show Alzheimer’s symptoms five or six years later than monolinguals. Multi-linguals cope with the disease better,” Ms Bialystok writes.
She adds that speaking more than one language helps in multi-tasking.
“When you give headphones to a bilingual driver, he is more likely to concentrate on driving while listening to music than a monolingual driver. Multi-lingual makes brains stronger and is good for brain exercise,” she explains.
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