The importance of being well-spoken and fluent in English is more evident than ever, with over 1.5 billion speakers globally. As such, it’s become common for most schools to incorporate English classes into their curriculum. Unfortunately, these efforts are often not enough. Instead, studies from ScienceDirect have found that parents play a key role in how children learn this language. More specifically, researchers have determined that while the primary responsibility for teaching English should still be with educators, parents who actively shape their children’s studies can have more positive outcomes.

So, if you want to help your child learn a new language in a way that is actually effective and enjoyable, read on.

Make it a shared experience

According to TeachHUB, direct parental involvement is highly beneficial for children because it is a key bonding opportunity that can foster consistency and patience. This is especially valuable when learning things like a new language, which may otherwise frustrate kids if done solo. Such reasons are even why mastering a foreign language is among the fun activities with kids that parents are encouraged to pursue together. As touched on by Daydreaming in Paradise, since kids often look to their parents as examples, this also allows you to inspire your children and show them that even challenging endeavors can be overcome with hard work. On a more practical note, having each other as study buddies can be very helpful, as languages are easier to pick up when used often conversationally.

Try playful approaches

All work and no play can make learning feel like a chore. Such sentiments are even more likely to be true when learning a new language since elements like semantics and tenses can get very technical. To prevent your child from perceiving their lessons as boring, let them learn using more playful mediums. Instead of always reverting to books, resources such as a singing learning service may be more appealing to kids. Available from platforms like Single Jam, these are designed to help users be more comfortable with singing, speaking, and listening to the language of a given song. Offering these learning approaches helps reposition the task at hand, making it something kids can think of as worth looking forward to rather than burdensome.

Introduce them to off-screen activities

A common struggle most parents have with kids nowadays is too much screen time. Besides causing general health issues due to excessive exposure and lack of movement, screen time has been linked with adverse effects on kids’ language development. This is likely due to the fact that onscreen media often uses more colloquial language that can confuse children. At the same time, most onscreen content is edited in a fast-paced fashion that can impact children’s attention spans, making overall comprehension slower. Alternatively, introduce more off-screen hobbies for your kids. This can include things like gardening, knitting, or even singing using the aforementioned platform. You can even join them in these activities to make it easier, so they have no reason to stick to their screens. If you’re taking up our other tip to learn the language together, the off-screen activity can be related to this, such as using flash cards or practicing casual conversations.

Article written by Rose Jennings

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-family-reading-a-book-together-6668315/