1. When Is the Best Time for Your Child to Start Learning a Second Language?

How would you understand that the child is ready to learn English?
Childhood is considered a critical period for language learning, because
at this age the brain is being developed and predisposed for success in
language learning, some studies(1) suggest that our capacity to learn a
language diminishes gradually during our lives. Also, by learning English
at a young age children are more likely to speak it without accent.
The critical period is considered from 6 months to 11 years old, when the
synaptic connections are at their peak (see the graph bellow), learning a
second language while at this age helps developing the childrens brain.

Studies by Harvard University (3) confirm that the creativity, critical

thinking skills, and flexibility of the mind are significantly enhanced if
children learn a second language at a younger age. Preschool years,
especially the first three years of life, are believed to be a vital period in a
childs life. This is when the foundations for attitudes, thinking, and
learning, among others, are laid down.

2. Are there any drawbacks of early English learning, which show that it's
too early for the child to learn the language?
No, there arent any drawbacks, people used to think that by learning 2 or
more languages at the same time children would develop a semi-
bilingualism, however it was proved that this is false, in fact as explained
in the previous topic and in the articles attached learning English at an
early age helps developing childrens skills, abilities and logical thinking.
Some researches (2) affirm that: Learning a second language does not
cause language confusion, language delay or cognitive deficit, which have
been concerns in the past. In fact, according to studies at the Cornell
Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language
can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who
know only one language.

3. What is your own attitude to early English learning?

In my opinion, there are no drawbacks and its really advantageous to
start learning English as early as possible, the person is more likely to
have a native fluent English and its time saving, because one of the
factors that influence the most on language learning is the time you spend
practicing it.

4. Could you give an example from your own experience of teaching

preschoolers?

5. How do you choose an amazing teacher?

First of all the teacher has to have experience and training to perform this
activity (knowledge of the language and of how to teach it), the other
factors that count are motivation to teach and interaction with students
(the teacher has to get along well with the students).

6. What are the advantages of English kindergartens?

The advantages of having your children in an English kindergarten are that
they will be immersed in English language all the time, will have English
lessons and lessons about different topics (geography, sciences, math)
in English, broadening their vocabulary and not teaching them only the
textbook vocabulary. By being completely immersed in the English
language they will be able to communicate about a wider range of topics
and do well in different situations.

7. How do you plant a love for learning English to children?

Learning English has to be something fun for children, otherwise they will
feel bored, therefore I like to prepare interesting activities that allow them
to participate and interact with each other in English, feeling confident and
enjoying using the new language that they are learning. Raising their
interest and curiosity may be a challenge sometimes, especially because
each one of them is different and has different tastes and backgrounds,
but I always try to make something that catches their attention.
Since kids attention span is really short, having a wide variety of activities
is also extremely important, so I always have several extra activities as
backup.

8. How do the methods of teaching English in Playlandia differ from other

English courses or kindergartens?
We use a communicative approach to teach our students, it means that
the classes are student centered instead of teacher centered. Here we
communicate with the children only in English. All our teachers are
certified and are real professional teachers, this means that all of them
studied in order to deliver lessons on Jolly Phonics, Montessori and other
different approaches, methods that were studied and proved to be
efficient over the years.
A lot of other kindergartens, not only in Moscow but all around the world
only hire native speakers that arent prepared to be teachers, remember:
being able to speak English doesnt mean that you are able to teach
people how to speak in properly, especially young learners, who need
different kinds of approaches in order to learn (songs, games, drills).

1- journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328
2- http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/05/learning-second-
language-good-childhood-mind-medicine
3- http://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/Enhancing-and-Practicing-Executive-Function-
Skills-with-Children-from-Infancy-to-Adolescence-1.pdf