Plan this opinion essay about language with the ideas and outline below, write it on a 40-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Children should start learning a foreign language as soon as they begin school.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
Pick two or three points from one or both columns. You do not need all of them, and your own examples score better than memorised ones.
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 250 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
Some people believe that children should begin studying a foreign language when they first start school. I agree with this view, as the benefits outweigh the potential problems.
The main argument concerns how young brains learn. Younger children are better at acquiring pronunciation, and they can pick up sounds that adults often find impossible to reproduce. Their brains are also flexible, so they learn vocabulary and structures naturally through games, songs and stories, without the fear of making mistakes that older learners often have. Starting early also gives pupils a longer period of exposure, which means they have many more years to practise and to reach a high level of fluency by the end of their education. Scandinavian countries, where children begin English in the first years of primary school, are a good example, as their citizens are widely admired for their English skills.
Some people worry that learning a second language could confuse young children or harm their mother tongue. However, research on bilingual children suggests that they distinguish between languages easily and often develop stronger skills in thinking and problem-solving. Others say that school time is limited and that language lessons will take hours away from subjects such as mathematics or science. This is a fair concern, but short, regular lessons based on play need not disrupt the timetable. The more serious difficulty is a shortage of well-qualified teachers, since poor teaching at an early stage could create bad habits. Governments should therefore invest in teacher training and provide good materials before extending the programme.
In conclusion, children benefit greatly from beginning a foreign language at the start of school, because they learn more naturally and have more time to master it, so long as the teaching is of good quality.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| mother tongue | first language |
| language acquisition | process of learning language |
| bilingual | able to speak two languages |
| fluency | ability to speak smoothly |
| immersion | learning by being surrounded by the language |
| from an early age | when very young |
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