It is generally believed that teaching foreign language to children as early as possible should be done by parents. While there are some advantages to this, I personally believe that there are some risks by doing it, such as national identity crisis and challenges in communicating with locals. Thus, it is better to teach foreign language to them in later years.
In the early level of education, ranging from pre-school to primary, children must focus on their native language because, in a bigger scope, language is an important part of national identity. If they learn foreign language from an early age, there is a high probability that they use it more in their daily lives. The risk imposed by this could affect their perception on their sense of belonging as they find it easier to interact with the foreign language than the locals. Therefore, to avoid such unwanted outcomes, it is best to firstly teach native or local language to children.
The ideal age for children to learn foreign language will be when they reach the level of 4th grade of primary school. After going through pre-school and the first three levels of primary, parents and schools should start to introduce these children to at least one foreign language. Referring to the current trend, English would be the best option, as it is lingua franca. As a result, they have a balance in their language skills for their future educational and professional development.
All in all, despite the common belief that teaching children foreign language as early as possible is deemed as obligatory, it is important to keep in mind the risks that it can impose to these children in their future development. Instilling foreign language at later years is way better to make sure the balance between their local and international communication.