by Clare Innes
There are not that many children who manage to learn a language at school and who eventually become fluent, no matter how long they studied it. There are, however, many kids who were able to learn a new language on their own within a couple of years, simply by reading, watching TV and mixing with speakers of that language.
Parents can play a huge role in helping their kids to learn a new language, so here are just a few ideas:
1. Move to a different country!
2. Watch foreign TV channels and read foreign books or magazines
3. Help them make bilingual friends
4. Lead by example
5. Make a game out of it
6. Foreign exchange visits
7. Take your vacations in an area that speaks your childs target language
8. Employ a foreign Nanny or Au Pair
9. Buy CD-ROMs, books, videos, on-line courses, etc
10. Private lessons
Packing up and leaving
You may think this a rather drastic move, but it is, without doubt, the most effective way to make your child bilingual. Once the initial fear and intimidation is put aside, your child will start communicating with the local children and new language skills will develop dramatically. It may be as little as 3 months before the child is able to hold a fluent conversation, although the grammar and stuff will come a bit later).
Read and watch TV
Try picking up foreign language programmes on your TV. A good idea to try and give your kids a gentle prod is to limit their normal TV viewing time to, say, 2 hours a day, but have no limit whatsoever on the foreign speaking channels.
If you live in a cosmopolitan area, try the local newsagency for reading material that will suit your childs iinterests but it is in a foreign language. Now try and push them a little to learn and then to show off their new language skills and knowledge at school.
Encourage your child to mix with bilingual kids
In a world that is so diverse, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you may well have neighbours from different countries. Help and encourage your child to make new friends, particularly other kids that speak the target languages that they want to learn.
Many people go to a religious gathering each week. It’s a great way to introduce both yourself and your child to a new community, and to make friends and begin to learn a new language. Try once a month to begin with, and then more often perhaps, when you feel a little more confident.
Show them how it’s done!
Learn a new language yourself and include your child. Show them that it’s not all boring school language lessons, and that it can be fun! Gently let your child understand that the ability to speak other languages is a desirable one and enjoy learning together.
Have fun a make it a challenge
Suggest that your child be woken up by the sound of a foreign language radio every morning! These clocks-radios are very cheap nowadays, and this is a great way to make a good start on the day. Even if the radio chatter isn’t much fun, your child could get to like a whole new type of cultural music and learn some new words and phrases along the way.
Give your kids an incentive to learn and to practice. Tell them that you will pay for any foreign language books or movies, which are available in most big towns and cities.
Foreign exchanges
Most high schools/colleges support foreign exchanges. This works by you sending your child to the country of choice, to stay with a family for a number of weeks or months, whilst their child comes and stays with you. It only costs the price of the flight ticket as obviously accommodation is provided, and a little spending money. This way, there are two teenagers who will have a wonderful experience and learn to speak the new languages with great pronunciation.
Vacation abroad
Try to spend holidays in countries speaking your target foreign language. If you don’t speak it at all and your child does, make him feel important several months before you go away, telling him that he’ll be your guide and that the whole family will have to rely on his language skills during the vacations. That should motivate him to learn as much as he can, so that he can be proud to use his new skills in front of the rest of the family.
Employ a foreign Housekeeper or Nanny
Hire an Au Pair, Nanny, Housekeeper, etc, that doesn’t speak too much English, and encourage her to speak to the children in her own mother tongue. This way, they will learn half the language while playing!
Use videos, books, on-line courses, CD-ROMs, etc.
There are a huge amount of books, cassettes, CD-ROMs, videos, and now on-line childrens language courses too, for language learning nowadays. If you can, buy several and use them jointly. A new CD-ROM can spark interest and curiosity from a child who would otherwise be bored by traditional long-term methods.
Private tuition
As I have already said, language teaching in schools is mostly insufficient to really learn a language. If you have the necessary funds available, why don’t you hire a private teacher who can teach one-to-one for a few hours a week? In many areas this is not too expensive and it’s much more efficient than group learning.
About the Author:
About the Author: Clare Innes has a series of health, fitness and general lifestyle websites, including one devoted to how to
learn a new language. Look out for more of her lifestyle websites in the ‘First
For….com‘ series that is currently being created