This interactive presentation will cover two main aspects of language learning: the advantages of learning more than one language and the optimal age to learn a language.

After a brief review of language learning around the world, including bilingual programs here and elsewhere, we will provide some insights into language acquisition theories and what more recent findings tell us about multilingualism and its amazing and perhaps unexpected benefits. Next, we will explore the question of whether there Is there an optimal age to learn a language? We’ll shed some light on the multifaceted answer and show that it is actually never too late to learn another language if we set realistic expectations. The benefits that learning a language brings, both cognitively, culturally and emotionally are definitely worth the effort! 

Dr. Beata Schmid has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Brown University. She is a practicing applied linguist, meaning she studies how people learn and use language(s) in the real world. Until her recent semi-retirement, she was the chief academic officer at EF International Language Campuses, a division of EF Education, a worldwide educational and travel company headquartered in Cambridge, MA and Zurich, Switzerland. Now she writes curriculum and spends a lot of her time in the garden, with her dogs and in her kitchen.