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Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Hi collegues! How can I teach English to my 1.5 year old-son?
Hi collegues! How can I teach English to my 1.5 year old-son?
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nuritan
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Hi collegues! How can I teach English to my 1.5 year old-son?
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Is it too early to teach English or can i do something special to warm up :)? Now at this age he is repeating everything like a parrot you know. I have been taught how a little child can learn english at the university but u know he is turkish and he is still trying to learn and speak turkish and if i try to teach english to him does it cause mixing up everything in his mind? Plss give ur opinion and say when i should start it? thanks in advance ..have a good night/day :) hugs from Turkey XXX |
2 Feb 2011
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arcumo
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Hi,
I can tell you the experience of some friends of mine with two daughters (one is now 5 and the other 3). They always read their daughters a story just before going to sleep and this story is always a tale in English. At first, when they were really small, they had "a magic hat" which the parents would put on to read the story. While they had this hat on they always spoke in English. Their daughters learnt that mum or dad spoke in a different way when they had the hat on. They have always watched cartoons in English and now the elder one is attending a school where she is basically taught through songs.
bye
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2 Feb 2011
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MarionG
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It is true that children can learn different languages when they are very young. And very easily. Theoretically you could simply speak only English to him and he will learn english for sure. Turkish he will learn anyway since that is what he hears around him all the time.
You will probably notice that his language skills develop a little slower than in kids who speak only one language but in the end he does gain a second language . If in school (or through the other parent at home) he is exposed to rich language, thru books, poetry etc, he should develop a rich language in both Turkish and English (assuming you expose him to a nice level of English).
It is really important though....IMHO...that you feel completely comfortable speaking English to your child. For you are foremost his mom (or dad?), not his teacher. I believe it is important that both you and your child feel comfortable communicating. If it is easier for your kid to tell you something (not necessarily what he wants on his sandwich, but something important, like his emotional world) in Turkish, I really believe you shouldn �t insist on English. Your communication with your kid is more important than his English!
(mother of teenagers talking...)
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2 Feb 2011
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joy2bill
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I remember a 3 year-old who was bilingual. If his mother didn �t answer when he spoke English, he used to switch to French. He had decided it was a language choice problem...not that mum was trying to ignore him!.
Children are amazing! |
2 Feb 2011
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Yolandaprieto
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I tried to speak to my son in English since he was born but when he realised that I didn �t speak like the rest of the people, he refused to listen to me. He didn �t like the idea that I was a different mom, so I gave up because being a mom for him comes first. Now that he is 9, he accepts that I can sometimes try to communicate with him in English and he is happy. Besides I teach him lots of things every day. You have to bear in mind that English is not your native language and that makes a big difference. If I had been a native speaker I would never have given up but as Marion says there will be lots of times you won �t feel comfortable using English.
It �s only an opinion and a personal experience
Yolanda |
2 Feb 2011
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MarionG
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I really like the idea arcumo mentioned (I didn �t see it before I wrote!). By using a trick like that (the hat) you can indeed have English time when you choose to, and thereby enrich your kid �s language, but still have your mother tongue for tucking him into bed after the story...
BTW, kids truly are amazing...My kids are more or less tri-lingual. I only spoke Dutch with them where they were tiny babies but read them lots of my favorite children �s books when they were little and we spend every summer in Holland (where they watch tv) and they just picked it up (not fluently but they manage nicely).
I don �t speak English to them but I used to speak English with my husband when they were little and that combined with a great English teacher at school, and movies and music in English got them to be near fluent speakers and readers by now (12+14yrs old). Hebrew is what we speak at home now and that �s what they hear all around so that is their main language... |
2 Feb 2011
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olaola
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I perfectly agree with you Yolanda..... I had the same problem with my daugher (now she is 4 years old)... She wanted "mum language" which is my mother tongue, so now I teach her through books, cartoons and situational vocabulary in english.
Tiziana |
2 Feb 2011
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Lindax
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Compliment and praise your child only in English. Play games with him/her in English.
You`ll be astonished by the results. |
2 Feb 2011
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amyi
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Hello there. I �m English and I live in France, so my sons (6 and 3) are bilingual. Based on my experience and the research I have done, I would say that it is important that you don �t try to speak to your child in English all the time, or even now and then. As some of our colleagues have suggested, you need to use English at specific moments so that your child knows what to expect and is able to make a clear difference between the two languages. A bedtime story in English is a great idea. You could also watch English tv /dvds together at the same time every week. You could designate some games to be played only in English. Good luck! Amy |
2 Feb 2011
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nuritan
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Hımm...thanks for your replies and sharing ur experiences..I want my son to speak english fluently and without any hesistance. So I sometimes make him say .."Yes" instead of saying "evet". Or his dad sometimes says him "Hey man,how are u" and he tries to say "hee meen" :)) I think i m gonna buy some colourful english kids books and speak to him in english..by the way i m really gonna tell the story in english (with hat).i like the method. Mothers and fathers (esp.mothers) how creative we are : )))
thank u very much.You really made me relaxed. |
2 Feb 2011
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Lindax
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I remember reading an article abt Scandinavians` English. Their level of proficiency is considered the highest owing to the absence of translated TV channels, particularly, cartoons.
All the channels their kids watch are in English. Maybe, this is the solution? |
2 Feb 2011
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