Having moved to the United States at a young age from a foreign country, my step dad wanted to make sure I assimilated well and forbade me from speaking my native language. Now as an adult, the only language I can speak fluently is English. Preventing me from speaking my native language as a child caused a disadvantage for me as an adult. Because America is such a melting pot, it is beneficial when one is bilingual. It is much easier for a child to learn several different languages than it is for an adult to learn one. It is much more difficult to learn a second language when you are older. As a child, you are naturally learning new things.
New vocabulary is something a small child has to learn to be able to communicate and it is amazing how easily a child can pick up words that are spoken around them. Children are like sponges and if they are exposed to different languages, they pick them up and learn them, all the while being able to make the distinction that they are different. As an adult, trying to learn a second language is much harder. For example, if you try to learn Spanish, not only do you have to learn and memorize a bunch of new words, you also must also retrain your mind on how to structure your sentences. Some times the structure of the sentences are similar to English as in translating juice fast to jugo rapido, but sometimes it’s not that simple. The rules of subject and predicate are different. Also, instead of the adjective being placed in front of the subject as in English, the adjective is placed after in Spanish.
For example, instead of saying a person has on a “red dress,” in Spanish one would say “dress red” or “vestido rojo.” As an adult, to learn a new language often you must retrain your way of thinking and formulating. This is hard because your mind has grown accustomed to thinking a certain way. You have already developed your paradigm. If you want to teach someone a different language, it is best to do it when they are young. The process will be much smoother.