Although government initiatives are afoot to introduce children to foreign languages at school from the age of seven, we are unfortunately far from achieving this in many of our schools. Most parents of young children today will have had a bad experience of learning languages at school. This is largely due to the fact that, as children, we started learning languages too late - when it was no longer easy and natural for us. As a parent, you can take steps to make languages an enjoyable experience for your child-simply by exposing them to a second language at as young an age as possible.

Indeed, parents can play an important role in helping their child learn a foreign language because the key to learning a second language is frequent repetition-in just the same way as a child learns his first language by listening to those around him. And you don't need to be structured in your approach to learning a second language with your young child - in fact, the less structured, the better. Very young children learn a foreign language simply by hearing it often, singing songs in it, and using it in their play. We have many products on offer which can help you achieve this, whether or not you speak the language yourself!

However, in order for the language learning experience to be as easy as possible for your child, you need to take advantage of the "window of opportunity" for early language learning. Don't wait for the school - it may be too late!