Research shows that young children learn
best in their mother tongue as a prelude
to and complement of bilingual and
multilingual education. As measured by
test scores and self-esteem, children who
learn in their mother tongue when they are
6 to 8 years old perform better than those
instructed in the official language earlier
or exclusively.27 Once a child can read and
write in his or her mother tongue, the skills
are transferable to other languages.