Traveling opportunities are immense in the modern world and no virus can change the situation as all quarantines will eventually end and people start visiting other countries as freely as before. Communication remains to be the essential element of traveling. Thus, make your children’s future life easier by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and language learning skills.
The More Languages One Knows, the Easier Life They Will Have
Children learn certain new things easier than adults, including many components of language learning. The rule of thumb is to encourage their eagerness to study and help to make complex things easier.
1. Increase language input
Many pieces of research proved that the classroom environment is not as effective for children in terms of language acquisition as explicit learning. Any solutions that can create a certain amount of language input every day, especially in a playful manner, will help immensely. This will also create a better base for further focus on the form approach.
https://unsplash.com/photos/TJxotQTUr8o
2. Involve activities
Children like to play games, so this should be used to avoid boredom and discouragement when primarily task-based methods are used to learn a new language. Learning new words using flashcards or stickers, involving games and experiments in the process, and designing more activities that will keep your child engaged will be extremely beneficial.
3. Comment and create immersion
When you know the target language yourself, it is easier to help your kid study it as you can provide the necessary level of immersion. Simply accompany your daily activities and routines by the commentary in a second language and see the benefits of early language learning. Children develop associations between activities, things, and words to describe them quite easily.
https://unsplash.com/photos/4-4WPFLVhAY
4. Use software
Just remember that you need to find a children-friendly solution for language learning as developers dedicate more efforts to making the learning software engaging and entertaining in accordance with more efficient ways to learn for children. Kids use smartphones and computers anyway, so combining technology, the learning process, and fun will be a wise decision.
5. Watch cartoons
Just don’t forget to find your kid’s favorite movies and cartoons in the needed language and proper subtitles. Watching them will enhance language learning on many levels as it is an additional immersion opportunity that makes comprehension and the development of listening skills easier. Keep in mind that simply exposing a child to cartoons in a foreign language will not be effective as only actively practicing new words and speech patterns will enhance the knowledge and skill.
6. Help your kid to get a foreign friend
Childhood is the best time to develop a great friendship and the modern world eliminates geographical boundaries between people with the help of communications technology. Multiple top translation services demonstrate that different languages are not the obstacle for people who want to speak with each other. Breaking your kid’s language barrier by constantly communicating with a peer from another country is not a difficult task to arrange as well given the availability of services that connect people with this goal in mind.
7. Start learning a new language together
Children depend on their parents and oftentimes happy childhood memories include activities that we did together with our parents. Learning something new together will not only give your kid new skills and improve cognitive abilities but also make you closer. Isn’t it the adventure you both want?
https://unsplash.com/photos/EMZxDosijJ4
Final Thoughts
Parents must also understand that reasonable expectations are important as language acquisition is a long and continuous process. Playing with flashcards, using language-learning apps, and watching cartoons with subtitles will not make your kid speak a foreign language fluently in a week, however, all these activities and tips are beneficial from a long-term perspective and making the studying process easier and more fun.
Author’s Bio
Christian Duke has rich experience in translating multiple research articles and literature that delved into children’s education. He even thinks about changing the career focus and becoming a teacher. Visiting at least fifty countries is another goal that Christian wants to achieve as he likes new experiences and meeting people with different cultural backgrounds.
