That is usually, the case even if they are in their teens. When they are younger, it can appear easier to introduce languages to them, whether that is simply through talking to them, or through introducing a new toy that speaks only in the desired language. But there is a great deal you can do to assist and support older kids in learning languages that goes beyond practising verb endings with them or assisting them with their homework.
In this blog, Ms Sonu Goel, Founder and Director of Café Converse, Delhi’s Top Institute for Learning Spoken English for Kids says she has taken a look at how one can help your teenage child learn English in fun, and in a low-stress manner. This article focuses on tips that do not make it feel like your child is being pressurized to get succeed, which is specifically, counterproductive when learning a language, where confidence and a lack of self-consciousness could make a huge difference to progress. While this article focuses mainly on older children, there are tips shared here that you could find useful for younger children as well.
Give them Books in English Version of their Favorite Books or Stories
If reading in English is something your child perceives as a task, a simple way to make it more fun for them is to give them their favourite books in English. A good number of popular stories and books have been translated.
When your child will read his favourite books in English. Let us say Ramayana. This way it would be a lot easier for him to relate to the words and sentences that he is going to read further. And if there is an issue with any vocabulary then instead of finding that in a dictionary, he can simply refer to the book in his native language to find the exact source of meaning. This method of learning will increase the interest in several manifolds.
Give them Tasks in English or Use English for Any Specific Thing
Learning should not be restricted to textbooks only. If you feel your child needs practice, you can include them as part of different activities too. For instance, you can use your mealtimes to make your child practice while eating. Ask them things in English related to their food, or let them explain about their liking and disliking related to that meal. Initially, they may hesitate or even make a few errors. But this is where the fun part is. What happens when your child is learning without any textbook it makes them feel less stressed as they also feel like engaging more. Because they know it is not part of a mandatory textbook reading that they should succeed at any cost. Thus, the fear of making mistakes are completely vanquished and learning becomes funny because of interaction with other family members too. This way your child will feel motivated and enjoy the learning.
Use Technology, Such as Gaming Console
Admittedly, following this method is an excellent way to make sure that your child’s English-language vocabulary marches more towards ‘level up’ and ‘game over’ than the sort of thing that could be useful in their future career, but any sort of practise is good practice, and switching technology into English is one of the low-stressed ways to surround your child with the language. It could well be that certain item of technology default to English anyway, so you would not have to put much effort into changing them.
If your child is not a big gamer, other ideas could include social media platforms such as Facebook or even their own mobile phone if they are confident enough that they will still be able to understand anything. The biggest commitment will be switching over something such as a laptop, but unless they are already familiar with specialist terms in English, that can be more of a challenge.
Aim Towards Vocabulary, Not Grammar
If you are going to attempt to play a role in teaching your kids English alongside what they learn at school, it would be best to focus on teaching them vocabulary instead of grammar. For one, this is due to the grammar is much more easily and effectively taught inside a classroom, rather than you trying to explain what modal verbs are while you are doing the washing up. For another, this is because their school teacher is perhaps teaching them grammar as per the curriculum that has been carefully laid out, you do not wish to confuse them.
But the main thing is that learning grammar assists you communicate better, but learning vocabulary helps to communicate more. If you would like to buy three chocolate truffles, knowing how to construct a perfect sentence based on “I would like” is not going to be of any help if you don’t know the word for “truffle”. Being able to say “three chocolate truffle”, even if you mess up the formation of plural, will result in chocolate coming your way. And being capable to communicate more is the key to making learning the English language more useful and more fun.
Ms Sonu Goel is a professionally acclaimed certified ESL trainer from the British Council having 15 years of strong background for teaching the English language in both online and physical classes. She is dedicated to teaching of English in an interactive and practical way, whereby learners feel enriched with knowledge and experience the language hands-on. She uses creative ideas and aids to let the learning happen as organically and efficiently as possible. Ms Goel has travelled to various European countries and experienced an array of cultures and linguistic skills for the English language.
To learn more about Sonu Goel please visit : https://cafeconverse.com/best-english-tutor-coach-teacher-sonu-goel.html
