Many parents wonder how they can best help their child to remember and continue practising their English language skills. Here are some ideas that can help you assist your child with learning English.
Join your child in learning English
If you speak English already, that will go a long way in helping your child to pick up and understand the language. If you do not speak English well, consider learning the language together. With both of you studying a new language at the same, not only is it an excellent way to bond, but it also shows your child that you are not afraid to have a go too.
Teach your child English by playing games
Children naturally learn their native language by listening to others around them while making mistakes along the way. Introduce new games or even games that they are familiar with and play them in English. In other words, get them to learn English in the same way that they are learning their native language.
Bedtime stories in English
Books in English are available online for purchase or download, so it is easy to find various English bedtime stories that you can read to your children. Most often, young children will not care what language their bedtime story is in as they simply enjoy the routine of being read to that matters. Children’s bedtime stories can be a powerful tool in getting your child interested in learning English.
Background noise
Many people often leave a radio or television on to provide background noise. By tuning into an English radio station or tv channel, children can pick up English without realizing that they are doing it. A big plus point here is that they will hear English words from several sources in different accents.
Experiment with sounds
How many times, when trying to speak a foreign language, have you been tripped up by a particular sound or the way a letter is pronounced differently depending on the word? This is where experimenting with sounds or phonics comes into play. Phonics was established to help with reading and writing by identifying sounds and the letters that correspond to them. Yes, it can be repetitive, but it is a proven tool in helping children learn a language.
Make things together
Whether cooking together in the kitchen or colouring things on the dining room table, these activities and others present the opportunity to replace native words and phrases with English ones. For example, “add a tablespoon of sugar” or “pass me the orange crayon” or “can you tidy up now please” are just some of many ways you and your child can learn to use English in everyday situations.
Sing nursery rhymes together
There are all kinds of English learning videos on YouTube that you can take advantage of with someone singing a nursery rhyme that you can learn and sing together at home. Nursery rhymes allow children to put together full sentences while also building confidence in their ability to speak English.
Computer games
These days it is almost impossible to stop children from playing computer games. With this in mind, set the operating language to English, and before you know it, they won’t even notice.
Invite English speaking friends to your house
As parents, you are of course proud of your children and one way to help them gain confidence in their ability to speak English can be to introduce them to your English friends.
As parents, you are of course proud of your children, and while placing them in front your English-speaking friends to show how smart they are may sound odd, your child can gain confidence in their ability and experience in speaking English with other people.
