subject: 5 Steps In Teaching Your Child New Languages [print this page] In this day and age we arent confined to our towns or cities. Thanks to aeroplanes, cruise liners, internet and the television we are constantly bombarded with different cultures and languages. Being able to interact with different people across the world opens up a bright future for your child and besides the intellectual stimulation they gain from learning new languages, you also will be doing them a favor.
So what can you do to make sure your child grows up very bi-lingual? If you know bilingual languages then talk to them constantly in your different languages. At a small age, their brain acts as a sponge and they pick up new dialects and languages with ease.
There are a few factors you should keep in mind when training your child in different languages:
Be patient:
Teaching your child to be bilingual will have its trial and errors and you definitely need a lot of patience. Its going to be a long-term endeavor but the end result is its own reward. Always praise them and focus on their strengths to boost their self-confidence. Gradually work on their weaknesses and reward them when they improve.
Enthusiastic, yet realistic:
Some parents will run away with the idea in their head about some Korean boy who knows 54 languages, but you shouldnt drown your child in too many languages. Be realistic about your goals for your child and work with them gradually. You only have so many hours in a day to teach your child as well so priorities on which language you want them to learn first. Remember to give them so time to be kids as well.
Family agreement:
You might be Afrikaans and your husband might be Spanish. Both of you talk English to each other but when you teach your child to speak your language a barrier might be formed. Come to an agreement and compromise, try to understand the significance of teaching your child other languages and also put in some effort to learn your husband or wifes language.
Expose them to the language:
When you want to teach your child from a young age you should expose them to the language as much as possible in as many forms as possible. When he wakes up talk with him in your language, just remember to keep each language associated with each parent so the child will not become too confused with different languages.
Educational Toys:
Many educational toys will help teach your child about new languages. Examples are storybooks and building blocks like Lego with the alphabet on them and pictures, which will help them, associate words with images. There are also many different interactive games, which will help them learn while you are busy.
In the end, it will be a long-term commitment but you will be happy that you put in all of that effort to teach your child how to be bilingual.
