Teach Your Children a Second Language

Being bilingual has many benefits in life. For instance, it can promote belongingness for a child when they know that other children can speak the same languages like them. It also promotes culture and it can go as far as to saving someone's life.

Steps

  1. Learn to be patient with the child. The very first thing in teaching a child how to learn something is lowering yourself down to the child's age. In short, your understanding mentality should be of that age of the child. Children's brains are fairly different to adult brains - not just in size but also in processing. So when teaching a child, take it slow. It is tempting to just jump right in and try to teach them big phrases and ask them to recite them back to you. This is called mimicking. All the child is really doing just repeating what you have said without knowing what it means.
  2. Start with the basic stuff: Alphabet, colors, animals, objects, things you might call someone else (Ex:dad, mom, sister, brother, uncle, aunt etc...). A good thing to do is buy little toy animals or show pictures of animals to help teach the child what they are called.
  3. At this point it may become a little frustrating because when you ask the child something, they may not remember it. The younger the child is, the more likely they'll forget what you taught them yesterday. So, this stage of the child's learning is all about repetition. You do not have to do a lot of it. Once the child can repeat the object's name or can retrieve the item you might have ask them to bring, then you are good to go on to the next stage.
  4. Playing word games is a good way to help the child to memorize the vocabulary. One fun game is to hide the toy animals or pick random objects around the room you are teach them in, and ask them to bring it to you. But it is best to switch it up once in a while, kids are quick to pick up on patterns.
  5. Once the child has built up their vocabulary, you can teach them phrases. At this point you can either do both teaching them how to read (can do this also in beginning) and speak or just speak. Start out with small phrases then go up to step by step.
  6. By this point, the child will be able to hold small conversations. It will be best if the child is taught to talk to you in the language only versus just using the language when needed. This way the child will not forget it, even if they only talk to you.
  7. Help them learn new words they might not know, and teach them little poems or puns to help them enjoy knowing the language more
  8. Be social. One way children learn language is by being social with people who also know the language. This way, it helps promote good conversation skills.
  9. Have a person in your child's life speak only in that language to help your child get to know the other language. Don't frustrate your child by doing this early on, though.



Tips

  • Try to play games with the child to help them learn.
  • Always be patient with the child. The child is more likely having a harder time learning then you are teaching.
  • Use everyday objects to teach the kid: cups, spoons, etc...
  • Be positive, enthusiastic, supportive, encouraging and creative - the latter is one thing children respond to best.
  • Teach the child the formal way to speak. It looks bad when the child is talking to an adult informally. It also gives the other person respect. And It is cute.
  • Try to give your child some space and don't make the experience negative.

Warnings

  • Do not yell, scream, hit or be harsh on the child. Once again, the mental state of you and the child are two opposite poles.
  • Do not teach them bad words; kids pick up on the bad words quicker than normal vocabulary.
  • Do not be discouraging. It is not good to discourage when teaching. If the child gets it wrong, smile at them and tell them to try it again.
  • Do not push your child too hard to learn the language. The reason being is that some kids are just not cut out or not ready to learn it. If they want to learn it, they'll learn it in the near future.
  • All children have different learning styles. Some might be similar but most are different. Figure out their learning style before trying to teach them.
  • Do not teach them informally in the beginning! They won't be able to take the lessons seriously and therefore will not learn as well as they would do if you taught them formally.
  • If the child doesn't want to learn and rather wants to play, do not force them. They will come to learn when they want.
  • Time is a necessary thing! You must have lots of it to teach them.
  • If the child is having a hard time, try to teach them at another time. (or season!)

Things You'll Need

  • An adult that can speak the same language as the child and another language that you would like the child to learn (If you, yourself, are not bilingual, then either have a babysitter or nanny or a teacher or someone who is willing to spend time with the child to teach them the language)
  • A child at a young age (preferably before the age of 7)
  • A creative mind
  • Books
  • Basic household objects
  • Pictures (optional if your books have all the pictures you want your child to learn)
  • Patience and time.

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