There are many languages that can benefit us in immense ways, from culture to trade – Chinese, Russian, Arabic, French and Spanish to name but a few – and what better way to ensure your child can pick up all these languages than by teaching them the master language that transcends all others: music. Even for English speakers, there is a growing interest in the advantages that come with learning foreign languages. The benefits are not just for those of us whose mother tongues are obscure. This explains why our music and language neural networks have significant overlap, and why children who learn music become better at learning the grammar, vocabulary and pronounciation of any language. Evolutionary evidence, as interpreted by leading researchers such as Robin Dunbar from Oxford University, indicates that speech as a form of communication has evolved from our original development and use of music. Humans first started creating music 500,000 years ago, yet speech and language was only developed 200,000 years ago. Music training started during this period also boosts the brain's ability to process subtle differences between sounds and assist in the pronunciation of languages – and this gift lasts for life, as it has been found that adults who had musical training in childhood still retain this ability to learn foreign languages quicker and more efficiently than adults who did not have early childhood music training.
During these crucial years, the brain is at its sensitive development phase, with 95% of the brain's growth occurring now. These advantages benefit both the development of their mother tongue and the learning of foreign languages. When children start studying music before the age of seven, they develop bigger vocabularies, a better sense of grammar and a higher verbal IQ. As music training boosts all the language-related networks in the brain, we would expect it to be beneficial in the acquisition of foreign languages, and this is what the studies have found. But Finland's peculiar custom of early music training where even babies and toddlers learn core music skills through songs and games, may also influence the fluency of foreign-language speaking Finns. In my birth country, Finland, the average person speaks three to five languages – after all, no one understands our obscure native tongue.
MUSICIANSHIP VS MUSICALITY FULL
According to the studies, just one hour a week of learning music is enough for the full brain benefits to take place – including an all-round boost in language skills and a significant increase in IQ. Thankfully, for the sake of the stress levels of parents and children, for the whole-brain boost, there is no need to emulate Tiger Mother Amy Chua who pushed her children to play classical instruments for several hours a day, often prompting tearful tantrums from her daughters. Reading through many research papers from peer-reviewed scientific journals, I discovered that music training is the only proven method to boost the full intellectual, linguistic and emotional capacity of a child.
But not all methods, from flashcards to baby signing, actually boost a child's intelligence, language skills or other abilities for success. A lot of demands are placed upon us as parents, and whether we like it or not, we need to help our children navigate their way in today's fast-paced world and build their skills for the future. It does not store any personal data.T oday's economic environment demands that our children become the very best they can be. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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