Toddlers who are taught a second language from an early age have the edge over peers who can only speak on language, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Researchers tested the understanding of English and French words among two-year-olds to see if bilingual toddlers had developed a comparable level of vocabulary in either language.

According to ScienceDaily, over 60 toddlers were divided into groups according to whether they were bilingual, or could speak the one language.

"By 24 months, we found bilingual children had already acquired a vocabulary in each of their two languages and gained some experience in switching between English or French," said senior researcher Diane Poulin-Dubois. "We found the cognitive benefits of bilingualism come much earlier than reported in previous studies."

Experts in speech and language therapy jobs might encourage parents to try and teach their children more than one language, to help boost their language and vocabulary skills.

"Bilingual children outperformed their unilingual counterparts on tasks where they were distracted," explained Dr Poulin-Dubois. "The small bilanguage advantage that we observed in our 24-month-old bilinguals is probably due to a combination of infants' experience listening to and using their two languages."