Foreign Language Teaching Methods To Help Your Child Master A Foreign Language

Learning a foreign language has many benefits & research supports teaching your child a second language at an earlier age from birth to about three years of age, because with age, learning a second language becomes more challenging. These days there are so many techniques to help your child learn a foreign language, but they all have one thing in common, practising it regularly. Thus, the most important thing when teaching your child a second language is consistency in foreign language usage and exposure.

6 Steps To Help Your Child Master A Foreign Language:

1. Learn With Your Child- If you as a parent have mastered a language you can easily help your child master it. However, not all parents are multilingual, hence it’s a good idea to learn with your child, in order to help them learn too.
2. Use Games To Teach Your Child A Foreign Language- Kids love to have fun, thus teaching a language through ‘play technique’ is fun and rewarding. For example, playing hide and seek, can teach your child how to count in a foreign language. Similarly, you can play colour games, games that help your child learn animals, shapes, alphabets in foreign language. Before you know it, your child would have easily grasped the basics.
3. Watch Cartoons, Children’s Shows, Sing Songs, Or Nursery Rhymes In A Foreign Language- Language exposure is important when teaching your child a foreign language, and getting them to watch a cartoon/show, sing a song or nursery rhyme in a foreign language really helps. A child learns through association, by listening & repeating. From pronunciation to meaning of a word, to sentences, there’s just so much a child can learn just from watching & listening.
4. Read A Book In A Foreign Language- You can incorporate reading in your child’s bedtime or nap time routine, and read them a story in a foreign language. This will help your child learn and master words in a foreign language easily.
5. Practice The Foreign Language Daily – While learning a foreign language, using games, cartoons, songs, reading can all help set down a good foundation for learning a foreign language, it is not enough, if your child doesn’t get to practice what they have been learning. It’s important for your child to be consistent when using the language, in order to master it. You can either hire a bilingual nanny or find opportunities to practice the target language, to help your child practice regularly.
6. Make Use Of Foreign Language Resources- Don’t shy away from using readily available resources at no cost, for example, online language programs, apps, can all be great modalities to help your child further advance their foreign language skills.