Even before learning to speak Portuguese, children who attend bilingual daycares already begin learning another language. In some institutions, all communication with babies from one to three years old is done in English. This is a time when, according to educators, learning a second language is facilitated by the still-developing brain of young children.
In classes for one to three year olds, one hundred percent of the day is conducted in English. Children have contact with different speaker models of the language and experience English in real everyday situations, which makes learning happen in a natural, playful, and non-forced way, very similar to the process of acquiring their native language.
From the age of four, Portuguese begins to be progressively incorporated, reaching a division of up to fifty percent English and fifty percent Portuguese. Gabriela Pinsdorf, an academic specialist at Maple Bear Brasil that offers bilingual education, explained this transition process.
The article is part of a Daycare Guide that helps parents find the ideal school for their children, with options available in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
