The Northern Star – Hamish Broome
“THE days of non-English speaking immigrant children abandoning their parents’ languages are becoming a thing of the past, with experts agreeing that bilingualism is only a good thing…losing languages, it turns out, is a bad thing: Speaking more than one language is now seen as an asset for a country and an individual. In other regions, such as Europe, speaking up to six languages is not uncommon, or in Asia multiple dialects are understood by many. It’s also better for kids’ brain development…”Learning languages is a window to a whole new world,” Mr Spengler said. “It actually makes people more tolerant and respectful, instead of being afraid, scared or aggressive. It’s a richness in seeing the world from many different perspectives.”It’s good for Australia, not just for economic reasons but for social reasons.””(more)