Experts urge early start in learning English
Children should be introduced to English at an early age, educationists say, citing their natural language-learning abilities and the need to lay a strong foundation for future fluency.
Independent scholar Sharifah Munirah Alatas and Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Noor Azimah Rahim both agreed that children are capable of acquiring multiple languages simultaneously.
They said early dual-language exposure would foster stronger linguistic competence.
Munirah said children up to the age of seven are capable of absorbing a second language almost as naturally as their first — as they were curious, eager to learn new things, and less self-conscious than older children and adults.
She said the task of creating conducive language-learning environments should not be left solely to schools, and urged parents to play a similar role at…
