Bilingualism

There are many cognitive and social advantages to bilingualism (Supporting, 2002). The cognitive skills of bilingual children are enhanced over those who only speak one language. The sequence for acquiring a second language closely follows that for acquiring the first language (Supporting, 2002; Watson, 1995). Children who learn two languages simultaneously in a natural setting follow the same stages of development as monolingual children, but may progress at different rates in the two languages. One may take precedence at certain times and the second at others. Children acquiring two languages often mix the two when speaking, which is part of the normal process and may promote higher cognitive and social levels of understanding.

There are three phases of simultaneous acquisition (Watson, 1995). In the first phase, the child uses words from both languages. The child may use words from both languages at once for the same object, e.g. "agua-water" for the Spanish/English speaking child. A child in phase

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Some common words found in the essay are:
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