Belper language teacher defends TOWIE star over baby lessons

Melissa Hanratty, who runs Lingotot North Derby, has jumped to the defence of reality television star Sam Faiers, who called in a languages teacher to work with her six-month-old baby in an episode of new ITVBe series The Mummy Diaries.

It was a move that left many viewers confused and taking to Twitter to question Sam’s parenting—comments which were then picked up by The Daily Mail.

But Melissa claims that the younger you learn a second language the better and that any negative comments are completely misplaced.

She said: “Linguistic experts say that between birth and five years of age, the brain is hard-wired for learning multiple languages and after that it only gets harder.

“Babies under the age of two can pick up a language with ease, their brains are like sponges. They spend all their time listening, ready to mimic what they’ve heard once they can produce the sounds.”

Sam lived her early years in Spain and once spoke the language fluently, and so is keen that her son be exposed to a second language.

The Lingotot teacher on the show delivered one of its typical lessons, designed especially for babies.

Melissa said: “We were delighted that such a high profile celebrity recognised how learning a language could enrich her baby’s life.

“We know the thousands of mums who bring their babies to our classes and have first-hand experience of the joy that learning a language can bring would agree with us too.”

For further information about Lingotot in Belper email [email protected].