Brain research has shown that early language study results in substantial and long-lived benefits to the developing brain:

1. Research suggests that foreign language study “enhances children’s understanding of how language itself works. It also increases their ability to manipulate language in the service of thinking and problem solving.” (Cummins 1981)
   
   
2. Language learners show greater cognitive flexibility, better problem solving and higher order thinking skills (Hakuta 1986)
   
   
3. People who are competent in more than one language consistently outscore monolinguals on tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence. (Bruck, Lambert, Tucker 1974, Hakuta 1986, Weatherford 1986)
   
   
4. Early language study results in greater skills in divergent thinking and figural creativity. (Landry 1973)
   
   
5. Foreign language learners have better listening skills and sharper memories than their monolingual peers. (Lapkin, et al 1990, Ratte 1968)
   
   
6. “The power to learn a language is so great in the young child that it does not seem to matter how many languages you seem to throw their way…They can learn as many spoken languages as you can allow them to hear systematically and regularly at the same time. Children just have this capacity. Their brain is ripe to do this…there does not seem to be any detriment to…develop[ing] several languages at the same time” according to Dr. Susan Curtiss, UCLA Linguistics professor. "(Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
   
   Strong evidence shows that time spent on foreign language study strongly reinforces the core subject areas of reading, English language literacy, social studies and math:
   
   
7.  Foreign language learners consistently outperform control groups in core subject areas on standardized tests often significantly.
   (Armstrong & Rogers 1997, Saunders 1998, Masciantonio 1977, Rafferty 1986, Andrade, Kretschmer & Kretschmer
   1989)
   
   
8. In one study, students scored significantly higher in math and language arts after one semester of foreign language study 90 minutes per week. In this study, one experimental group actually received one and a half fewer hours math instruction per week and still did better than the control group in math. (Armstrong 1997)
   
   
9. A study of 13,200 third and fifth graders in Louisiana public schools revealed that, regardless of race, gender or academic level, children taking foreign language classes did better on the English section of the Louisiana Basic Skills Test than those who did not. (Dumas 1999)
   
   
10. Foreign language learners consistently score higher than their non language learning peers in measures of English vocabulary, particularly when the language studied has Latin roots. (Masciantonio 1977)
    
    In an age of global interdependence and an increasingly multicultural and multi-ethnic society, early foreign language study promotes cultural competency in children:
    
    
11. Foreign language learners are more tolerant of the differences among people. (Carpenter & Torney 1974)
    
    
12. “The age of ten is a crucial time in the development of attitudes toward nations and groups perceived as ‘other’ according to the research of Piaget, Lambert and others. At age 10, children are in the process of moving from egocentricity to reciprocity and information received before age 10 is eagerly received.” (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
    
    
13. “The positive impact of cultural information is significantly enhanced when that information is experienced through foreign language and accompanied by experiences in culturally authentic situations.” (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
    
    
    Linguistic and cultural competence will be the mark of a well-educated citizen of the 21st Century.