Each of us was taught a foreign language and translate japanese to english at school. We all perfectly remember the numerous tasks for cramming grammar and spelling, various dictations. There were slightly fewer exercises related to reading and retelling of texts. And quite a bit of staged dialogues.
The main indicator of the effectiveness of language learning for us was, of course, the grade in the diary :-). If it costs at least 4, it means that the job is done normally and you can relax.
However, those who decided to take the final exams in a foreign language, not to mention the entrance exams for the institute, almost always had to study extra, even if they received five in a foreign language. And even if you chose educational institutions where knowledge of a foreign language is not a prerequisite for admission, then the limitations of the school curriculum, in addition, multiplied by the lack of practice, backfired a little later, when you were faced with the need to communicate with foreigners or translate any materials …
It is not surprising that, relying on the language skills acquired and translating english to russian at school, modern teenagers very often face insurmountable limitations. After all, the school curriculum has an extremely narrow focus with a significant shift towards studying the rules and memorizing standard verbal turns. And in such conditions, almost every time when something more than the successful completion of school homework is required, one has to turn to the help of knowledgeable acquaintances or dig into dictionaries. The most unpleasant thing is when you have to do all this in an emergency mode.
So why wait until your child begins to have problems associated with not knowing a foreign language, if now, when the human mind is as open as possible to the perception of everything new, you can not only lay an excellent foundation for learning foreign languages, but also develop language skills to really serious level?