5 good reasons to expose children to a second language early

Higher test scores: Numerous reports have proven that students who have studied a foreign language perform much better than their monolingual peers on many standardized tests.

Better and more advanced reading skills: A study undertaken by York University, Canada, suggests that bilingual children’s knowledge of a second language gives them an advantage in learning to read. 

Greater confidence: Children are always discovering new things, but learning a new language is a uniquely rewarding experience—at any age. 

Gives brains a boost: In a recent article in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell quotes James Flynn, a renowned scientist, as saying "The mind is much more like a muscle than we've ever realized… It needs to get cognitive exercise. ..." Research into the effects of bilingualism on children suggests that exposure to more than one language is an excellent way of flexing those brain muscles—and building them up too! Bilingual children ... who had been exposed to a second language from an early age proved to have the most grey matter of all. Grey matter is responsible for processing information, including memory, speech and sensory perception. 

Greater grasp of one's first language—including a bigger, richer vocabulary: .... "The more children learn about a foreign language, the more they understand about their own language." Children use what they learn in one language to reinforce concepts and terms they've learned in the other.   

This is exactly how Michel Thomas teaches adults. See: 'what language do you think in?' post on 21st July 2012