Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

New Zealand Herald headline today “Imaginary friends boost language skills”

In a study in the latest issue of the journal Child Development, Otago University associate professor Elaine Reese, and former student Gabriel Trionfi, of Clark University in the United States, investigated the language skills of 48 boys and girls aged 5-1/2, of whom 23 had imaginary friends.

They found that the 13 girls and 10 boys who had engaged in imaginary companion play had more advanced narrative skills than children who had not.

“Because children’s storytelling skills are a strong predictor of their later reading skill, these differences may even have positive spinoffs for children’s academic performance,” Prof Reese said.

OK, so having imaginary friends is one way of developing your language skills. If you’re all grown up and not that keen with having imaginary friends, then come along to one of Euroasia’s language classes where you can practice speaking with some real people, and make some real friends in the process.