Chapters
- 01. Maintaining The Same Pace As Your Child In Your ESL Lessons
- 02. Converse In English With Your Child
- 03. Engage In Role Reversal For Better English Learning
- 04. Avoid Translating Word-For-Word
- 05. Using Music To Supplement ESL Learning
- 06. Ask Your Child's English Teacher How You Can Help
- 07. Utilizing ESL Learning Resources
- 08. Online English Courses for Parents
Many children choose to learn English as a second language in school. After all, English is a global language and an unofficial lingua franca of the world. Learning English opens many avenues for professional development for children and adults alike.
However, some parents possibly never got the chance to learn it since they grew up in a world that wasn't so interconnected. This makes it hard for them to become part of their child's English speaking future.
Furthermore, most parents like to be involved in their children's studies by helping them prepare for an upcoming exam or simply revising their lessons. But they can't help if they don't know the subject matter.
Subjects like math are still universal, but you possibly cannot help out with studies if you don't know the language.
However, young brains are malleable, and children can easily grasp languages, whereas adults might find it twice as hard. The adult brain is not ready to acquire unique information about the grammar and morphology of new languages.
Here's where Superprof comes in. We provide customized ESL lessons for parents looking to learn English. Our expert native speaking tutors specialize in teaching English as a second language, and we let you choose tutors who will work according to your needs and schedule.
Maintaining The Same Pace As Your Child In Your ESL Lessons
While adults are better at understanding concepts than children, the opposite seems to be true when learning languages.
A child's brain is naturally attuned to learning languages; children learn their first language intuitively without any conscious effort, which is not the case with adults.
This plasticity of the adult brain can prove to be a hindrance when learning a second language. If you are learning ESL along with your child, they can leave you behind.
However, all it takes is a little willpower and practice on your part to stay at the same level as your child.
Learning the language together is a great way to keep up with your child's progress. If your child learns English at their school and independent of you, there are other ways to stay in sync with their learning.
Assist them with their English homework and projects, practice together with them at home and try to converse with them in English at home and when you go out.
This will help both of you stay motivated and achieve your learning goals.
Additionally, it's sure to have a positive effect on your life as well. Learning English can boost your career prospects, especially if you are an immigrant in an English country. It can also help you when working with IT and technology as English is the standard language.
Moreover, you'll be better prepared to work on computers, read maps and directions, and deal with retail staff. You don't have to be 100% fluent in English to run a smartphone or a computer; even basic knowledge of the language will do.
Discover the best platform to take ESL classes online.
Converse In English With Your Child
Although theoretical understanding is useful when learning languages, speaking it is still the best way to master them.
When parents don't speak English with their children, they learn the language through books. While that can be effective, it misses some key aspects like pronunciation, oral fluency, and listening skills.
If your child is an introvert, they may feel shy speaking in English at school and miss out on key speaking and listening activities necessary to master the language. As a parent, you can help your child get better at it by encouraging them to use it at home.
Furthermore, your child should feel comfortable and free from judgment when speaking English. It's necessary to create a relaxed environment for them to practice their speaking skills.
They must feel at ease to flounder, experiment, and correct themselves regarding their accent, pronunciation, and intonation. This is something that cannot be achieved with books.
Engage In Role Reversal For Better English Learning
Let your child become the teacher, and let yourself become the student. Believe us when we say it's a highly effective way to cement your child's grasp of the English language.
The mere practice of explaining helps the teacher just as much as the student. It will help your child strengthen their concepts and comprehension of the subject being taught.
If they seem to be struggling to explain what they learned effectively, this could be a sign that they have not fully understood their lesson.
It's a great way for you to gauge where your child stands on their learning trajectory.
Avoid Translating Word-For-Word
One of the biggest mistakes beginners make when learning a language is translating it word by word from their native language.
Every language has its idiomatic expressions and quirks. If you translate each word, you end up losing the meaning in the intended language.
Furthermore, mastering the English language's idiomatic and figurative aspects is a step every ESL learner must experience in their learning process.
Translating word-for-word doesn't do justice to the phrase. For example, in French, "Je m'appelle" means "I call myself" literally, even though the intended meaning is "my name is."
Moreover, adults tend to analytically approach language learning, like math, and focus too much on grammar and translating every word. Children take a less literal approach to things, making it easier for them to grasp the language.
To learn a new language, you must think about it instead of translating every sentence word by word. ESL teachers encourage their students to express their thoughts and think out loud in English.
Additionally, tutors can incorporate English puns, riddles, and jokes in their lessons to make them more engaging and to keep ESL students motivated.
See ESL classes near me here on Superprof.
Using Music To Supplement ESL Learning
Some English songs have achieved global notoriety. English music is popular everywhere, in almost every country. Chances are, your child's favorite song is a trending English song that's ruling the charts.
Music is a great way to learn languages organically. You can ask your child to explain the meaning of their favorite English song without translating the lyrics word-for-word.
Since this is something they enjoy, it wouldn't even seem like a boring lesson!
Also, songs can positively influence pronunciation. You and your child can have a sing-along to see who sounds more accurate to the original singer.
Ask Your Child's English Teacher How You Can Help
You must have attended a parent's evening at your child's school. Why not use these meetings with your child's English tutor to learn their progress and see how you can contribute to their learning.
Revising lessons with your child can be hard when you don't know their progress and in which areas they need to improve.
You could be focusing on pronunciation when they seem to be lacking in vocabulary.
Therefore, it's a good idea to discuss this topic with their English teacher beforehand. Tutors incorporate various resources - from textbooks to recordings - to help students learn the language.
Hence, they will recommend CDS, DVDs, books, and other resources that you can use to keep up with your child.
Utilizing ESL Learning Resources
On that note, the more resources you can use to help you learn English, the better. Thankfully, English is a global language, and you will find no shortage of resources or guide material to help you with your learning.
This goes for both parents and children. If your child is finding it hard to master their English writing skills, you can consider buying them workbooks to practice their spelling and writing techniques.
You can find many English workbooks and exercises for children, covering everything from grammar to spelling to vocabulary.
If you find it hard to understand conversational English, you can always watch English movies with subtitles or search for English tutorials on YouTube.
If you don't want to go searching for workbooks, you can find plenty of resources online to help you and your child with English.
Furthermore, you can also access numerous websites that make learning English a fun and interactive exercise. With a little practice, it shouldn't take you long before you master the language.
Online English Courses for Parents
How well children learn English depends on themselves, their parents, and their teacher. It's very important to choose the right English teacher for your kids.
As for yourself, you can join in and take English lessons yourself either online or choose night classes if you work in the day.
There are many ways you can effectively learn English in no time as long as you take the right learning approach
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