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Kids Learning Italian –
The Benefits
Common Italian Words and Phrases

Kids Who Study Italian Are More Successful

Learning a second language–like Italian–opens up a world of benefits for your kids. They can improve their critical thinking skills, sharpen their memory, secure enrollment in better colleges, and eventually be propelled to new heights in their careers

Now is the time to help your kids prepare themselves for the job market and economy that will be even more globally oriented when they graduate from college. When kids study Italian, they will be learning a language that’s important to several large industries, and put themselves in better positions to embark on exciting and rewarding careers.

Discover How Easy Italian For Kids Can Be

Before we delve more deeply into the benefits of learning Italian, though, let’s consider how your child learned her native language. As soon as your baby was born, you talked to her and coaxed her to repeat what you said. This is the same way all people learn to communicate, no matter what language they speak. In this same manner, your child can also learn Italian.

Children have a great capacity to learn language at a young age because their brains are still developing. From birth to approximately ten years of age, new synapses are constantly forming in a child's brain, allowing him to quickly learn new things–including language–and better retain it. The sooner your child begins to pick up even basic Italian words, the more quickly he'll learn the language, and the longer he will retain it. Your child could even easily learn two or three languages in addition to his native language, if you start teaching him early enough.

Now let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of learning Italian at a young age:

Bilingual Kids Perform Better in School

Your kids can do better in school if they study Italian. You'll notice a difference particularly in subjects that require problem-solving skills and critical thinking, like science and math. Studying Italian can also help your child do better on aptitude tests, and on the SAT. The higher the SAT score, the more options your child will have when he applies to colleges.

Because new neural pathways are created when we learn a second language, our brains are able to work more quickly and efficiently. This means that in addition to the new skill being learned, your child will also perform better on reading comprehension tests, and will acquire superior skills in critical thinking. It's also been shown in studies that children who are bilingual are better at solving problems, in general, than those kids who speak only one language. This is a skill they will use throughout their lives in many situations.

Italian For Kids Opens Up Opportunities For Exchange Programs

Exchange programs can be an exciting way for your child to more deeply explore a second language; there are a few ways to get involved. Your family could host an Italian student or you could choose to send your child to live in Italy for a short period of time. Your exchange student will feel much more at home if your child is able to speak to him in his native language. It will also allow them to communicate more effectively, and become better acquainted.

If your child travels to Italy, or another country that speaks Italian like Switzerland, the entire exchange experience will be much more enjoyable and fulfilling if she's able to get around and communicate with the country's residents, and with her host family and fellow students. Being an exchange student can be one of the best life experiences your child will ever have.

Bilingual People Have More Job Opportunities

When you child learns Italian, he'll put himself in a better position to secure a lucrative career and be more attractive to employers who seek bilingual employees.

Many large companies, both American and Italian, have offices and production facilities in both the United States and Italy. Those companies need employees who can communicate with others in both locations to keep operations running smoothly. Even small businesses can benefit from hiring bilingual employees, particularly those in areas with large Italian communities.

Bilingual People Earn More

When companies require a unique skill set, they sometimes offer a little more compensation when those skills are difficult to come by. Bilingual employees often make higher salaries, or receive bigger, more frequent bonuses than monolingual employees. By building those language skills early on, your child can be in a position to not only have a better job, but make more money over a longer period of time.

According to a study, bilingual employees earn more, an average of 20 percent more, than employees who speak only one language. Multiply that over the number of years your child will probably work, and you'll get an idea of how lucrative language skills can be.

Encourage your child to study Italian

Most often, high schools offer classes in Spanish and French. More are starting to expand their language offerings, though, and Italian for kids is becoming an option in more places. If that's true of your child's school, have a talk with him and explain how he'll benefit if he decides to study Italian. You can also talk about how easy Italian is to learn, and how, if you learn one Romance language, the others (Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc.) are much easier to pick up as well. Involve him in the decision, and he'll be more invested in the endeavor, and thereby more successful in it.

Just remember that even if your child studies Italian at school every day, it's probably only going to be for an hour a day, and he may not have the opportunity to use it outside the classroom. Supplementing his class with a course he can do at home can mean the difference between becoming fluent or just remembering a few basic Italian words after graduation. You can also make it a family project, and all learn Italian together. Bonding as family in this way is another one of the manybenefits of learning Italian.