The younger a child starts learning a second language, the easier their brain picks up on the pronunciation and grammatical aspects.
That doesn’t mean they’re going to have an easy time of it.
Learning a foreign language, as learning any skill, takes time and effort. It also takes a lot of interest from the learner, in this case the child.
This post will cover some tips and tricks for parents and caregivers and teachers to use when teaching children of foreign language.
Tip 1: Make learning into a game
Before we ever enter a classroom, we have learned so many skills we need for life. We spend more time playing as a child than we do much of the rest of our life.
With this in mind, why not play when learning a foreign language?
Learn greetings with a game of peekaboo!
Go on a word scavenger hunt!
Play hide and seek and count to 10 in your target language!
These are just a few suggestions for turning learning language skills into a game.
Tip 2: A little bit goes a long way
Spending hours and hours every day learning one subject would burn anyone out.
Even if you’re trying to learn astrophysics overnight, how much are you gonna be able to retain in the long term?
For children, how much are they gonna be able to focus to be able to retain any of that information?
Remember back to when your child first learned to talk. Did they have a whole vocabulary from one day to the next or did they have their first word, and then another word, and then a few more words?
The same idea here! A little bit at a time goes a long way.
Learn one word at a time or a few words a week at first! Spend 5-10 minutes a day instead of 8 hours straight!
Tip 3: Consistency is more important than volume!
Taking that little bit of effort and making it a habit will lead to more success than combining it all into one day.
When I taught swimming lessons and saw students once a week, I would see long term success and less regression than those who took a week or two in the summer only.
The week-long students made fast progress but didn’t maintain that progress over the year.
The same goes for any skill, including learning a foreign language. Progress from consistent work is not as fast but the skills and knowledge stay around longer.
Tip 4: Follow their interest
One way to get students invested in learning is to tailor it to their interests.
Say your six-year-old is obsessed with cars and airplanes. Help him learn all the words for cars and airplanes in German to start his language journey.
Your 10-year-old daughter is interested in music? Start her learning the instruments or all the vocabulary around music in German. Find popular music that she’ll be interested in and she will want to know what they’re saying.
If your child has an interest in the topic, the more they will learn.
Tip 5: Know Their limits
Learning can be overwhelming for some students.
No matter how much they really really want to learn German, sometimes their brains just aren’t ready to learn.
And that’s OK.
For example; consider your child’s speech development. If your child has a mild speech delay, or struggles with things like blends, be mindful of how that affects them learning a new language similar to how it affects their native language.
Another example to consider is your child’s attention span. If they cannot focus long enough to complete a task, then give them patience to build up that skill.
Children pushing their limits too much too often does not teach them anything but that everything is hard and why bother.
Knowing their limits and pushing just a little bit teaches them how to persevere
Tip 6: Preparation is key
It seems obvious that in order to teach your child how to count to 10 in German; you need to know how to count to 10 in German. That’s only part of the preparation factor.
You don’t have to be fluent in German to teach your child the language, but knowing enough that you can be their guide, while you learn together is valuable.
Another factor to consider is, children ask lots of questions. We don’t always have the answers to these questions, or have a way to answer them how we want. So consider questions they might ask, knowing your child, and prepare accordingly.
Tip 7: Set a goal
What is your goal with learning another language?
Why do you want to learn German or any other foreign language?
Does grandma speak German and you want bonding?
Do you have a trip planned to Munich and you want to practice speaking?
Are you homeschooling them and this is a language requirement?
Did they find a book they want to read or a movie to watch and it’s in German?
You and your child’s goal for learning a foreign language will determine how to proceed, what resources you need, and how much they’re interested. I talk more about setting goals in foreign language here!
