Hello,
I have taught French as a second language successfully to three year olds at a Montessori nursery.
I also did a survey on 250 preschool teachers and they gave me hugely positive feedback on starting early - even at two years old - with incredible results.
It is so inspiring what can be done with young children and they absorb readily.
Of course at this young age (2, 3, 4, 5) teaching should be done in small groups, with space to move around. One uses movement, music, stories, games, miming, actions, sounds, puppets - all this is such fun and so stimulating for the children. They love love love it!
When it is done right it is not stressful and produces fantastic results so I say that you can't start early enough when it comes to learning English or any foreign language.
Kind regards
Shelley
For a free mini-series containing games, activities, flashcards and an illustrated story please visit:
Preschool ESL: Games, activities and stories for teaching English to preschool children