Let your children see YOU enjoying EnglishOne of the best ways to get children interested in doing something is to let them observe you enjoying that activity. Don’t make a big deal out of it, but let your children see you reading English books or newspapers. Watch English DVDs, listen to English music or let them see you speaking English with a friend. Your children look up to you. When they are playing, they pretend to be you. If you’d like them to be interested in English, show them that you are interested in English.
Expose your children to EnglishRemember that INPUT is essential. Identify some English media (such as DVDs and CDs) that your children like and let them enjoy it on their own terms without pressuring them to produce English right away. Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations for young foreign language learners. Just as a young native English speaker needs time to start producing English, so does a young foreign language learner. Almost all language learners go through a “silent period” before they begin producing language on their own. Naturally, the silent period for a child can often be quite long.
Expose your children to EnglishRemember that INPUT is essential. Identify some English media (such as DVDs and CDs) that your children like and let them enjoy it on their own terms without pressuring them to produce English right away. Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations for young foreign language learners. Just as a young native English speaker needs time to start producing English, so does a young foreign language learner. Almost all language learners go through a “silent period” before they begin producing language on their own. Naturally, the silent period for a child can often be quite long.
