Learning another language also improves listening skills and helps kids of all ages better understand words in general. “As children develop an inventory of foreign synonyms, they more fully understand English,” says Francois Thibaut, founder of the Manhattan-based Language Workshop for Children and pioneer specialist in early childhood education.

Many English words share Latin roots with Spanish, French and other romance language synonyms, and if kids know these foreign words they can analyze the meaning of English words. This leads to higher scores on the verbal portions of college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT.

College may seem far away if you have a toddler or preschooler, but babies as young as 6 months old can start learning a foreign language, and 2- to 3-year-olds are capable of learning and speaking several languages. Last year Marlene Castricato of New York City proudly watched her 3-year-old son, Louis, chatting in French at a family reunion in Canada, moving confidently from table to table of French relatives. Louis also speaks fluent Italian.

“My husband’s family was born and raised in Italy and my husband was born in Montreal, Canada, so we wanted Louis to speak those languages," says Castricato. "My son’s exposure to French and Italian was as natural as a lullaby.”

Louis’ father spoke to him in French and Italian and relatives sent board books in these languages to help him learn. “My son’s understanding and use of the languages was slow and steady. The greatest difficulty was mine,” says Castricato. She is currently studying Italian to try and keep up with her trilingual preschooler.

Paul Warhorst, of the Carden Christian Academy in Park City, Utah, finds teaching Spanish to preschoolers rewarding. “It’s not so common to teach a foreign language to kids at this age but they love it,” he says. The preschoolers greet him with an enthusiastic "Hola!" and wave good-bye piping "Adios!"

“I’ve had a lot of parents come up to me pleased that their child is saying their colors in Spanish or using expressions they’ve learned,” says Warhorst. He encourages parents to search the Internet for age-appropriate games. “The kids just think they’re playing a video game, but they’re actually learning.”

The Younger, The Better
Many kids already have a parent that speaks another language, but teaching that language isn’t always intuitive. Although Hargis’ husband was raised in South America, she and her husband just didn’t realize the value of teaching their older son Spanish at first. “When our son was about 3 years old we slapped our heads in frustration,” she says.

When their second son was born Hargis spoke a mixture of 50 percent English and 50 percent Spanish to him, and her husband spoke 90 percent Spanish to their baby. The Hargis family also hired a nanny who spoke fluent Spanish.

“Even before he was 2 years old my son was talking like crazy in both languages – about 50 words each in English and Spanish – and he fluently understood and responded appropriately in words or action to both languages spoken to him,” says Hargis.

Hargis made learning fun by playing audiotapes of songs in English and Spanish and reading books to him in both languages. She suggests looking for foreign books and tapes in stores that sell teacher supplies.

“I truly believe my younger son has such a large vocabulary at this early age because of the exposure to two languages,” she says. Her older son also speaks Spanish fluently now, and Hargis has improved her own Spanish vocabulary and comprehension skills. Looking back, Hargis definitely would have started teaching Spanish to both boys as babies.

Building foreign language skills early paid off for Hargis’ nieces, who were taught Spanish, Farsi and English since birth and are now trilingual. Hargis fondly recalls the story of her 2-1/2-year-old niece trying to tell her something at a party.

“My niece was speaking a combination of Spanish and Farsi (English was her third language) and I couldn’t understand a word," she remembers, "I had to chuckle, lean down and tell her I had enough trouble with my Spanish, so could she possibly tell me in English? She looked at me rather impatiently, but tolerantly repeated what she’d said in English.”

Although alternating languages works well for some families, experts recommend that each adult stick to a designated language to avoid confusing a child who is trying to become bilingual. Using this technique, the adult designated to speak English will only speak English to the child, and the adult speaking the second language will only speak that language. The child doesn’t mix up the languages because he channels one language to the first adult and another language to the other adult.

Play Time, Say Time
“Happy children, who think they’re just singing and playing, remember more of what they hear," says Thibaut. "That’s why The Language Workshop for Children believes in a structured playgroup method.” To boost language retention, find a playful, fun way to instruct your child. Thibaut recommends the following teaching aides:

• Age-appropriate Audio Tapes – Play the tapes a few times each day. Turn them off before the child becomes bored or he’ll “tune out” and forget what he's heard.
• Videos and CD-ROMs – Look for items that present vocabulary in a fun, creative way. Make sure your child is interested in a similar type of programming in their native language. If your child doesn’t enjoy watching videos in English she won’t want to watch them in German.
• Books – Find books with bright pictures and engaging text. Choose subjects that your child already likes. The Thomas the Train books, for instance, are available in several languages.

It’s best to start language training early. Kids possess their greatest ability to absorb and retain languages until the ages of 12 to 13 when their brain begins losing plasticity. Also, kids are less self-conscious than adults and not as afraid of getting things wrong or not saying them right. This results in greater verbalization and helps kids become fluent in a language sooner than adults.

Parents that don’t speak a second language might want to enroll their child in a credible foreign language playgroup. Babies as young as 6 months old start learning in Thibaut’s Spanish and French classes. The 6- to 20-month-olds listen to a native speaker sing, talk and read stories in another language. Songs subtly teach vocabulary and grammatical forms, and babies pick up pronunciation by hearing words spoken.

In the toddler and preschooler workshops, kids are encouraged to participate in classes since they already know how to talk. The children sing, play games and practice new words. “We’re delighted when we see that youngsters understand or we hear them sing and say the French they’ve learned in class," says Thibaut. Babies and older kids receive tapes so they can continue to listen and learn between classes.

No Thanks, Mom
Some children resist learning another language. When my Norwegian husband tried to teach our 2 1/2-year-old American son, Max, how to speak Norwegian, Max insisted, “Speak English, Daddy!” But when we traveled to Norway, Max hated not being able to understand anyone. He tentatively asked us, “How do you say, ‘Hi’ in Norwegian?” By the end of our 10-day trip Max could communicate in basic Norwegian just from immersion in the culture.

If your child balks at learning another language, Thibaut suggests signing onto the Internet and ordering cartoons in the second language. Another suggestion is finding something that interests your child like a favorite action figure or doll and developing games to play using the second language. “Your child will be more interested if you integrate a second language in play, rather than in adult to child conversation,” says Thibaut.

Sometimes simple persistence works. When Gloria Attar moved from the United States to Bologna, Italy, her 2 1/2-year-old daughter didn’t want to learn Italian. “My daughter completely resisted my efforts, but as I kept speaking in Italian to her, she started to ask, ‘What’s this in Italian,’” says Attar. Reading Italian picture books also helped. “It’s very sweet when your child starts talking to you in the foreign language naturally. Like to them, it’s no big deal,” she says.

Give your child the gift of another language while they’re still small and it’s easier for them to learn. A second language lets them create special friendships, understand different cultures and seize opportunities resulting in lifelong benefits.