Top Tips for Helping Your Child Learn a New Language

During your child’s school years, they will be introduced to a new language as one of their lessons. This is usually French, Spanish or German, or a combination of more than one. Being able to speak more than one language can open up many new opportunities for your child’s future. You may be wondering how you can help, especially if you don’t speak the language your child is trying to learn. Here’s some advice from an independent prep school in London.

The truth is, you don’t have to be multi-lingual in order to help your child learn a new language. Simply being around to offer support and encouragement and provide all of the appropriate resources will go a long way. You should suggest to your child that they stick up labels around the home to help them with their vocabulary. For instance, they could label the fridge, the front door and their wardrobe; anything that they’re likely to use and see every day to reinforce the words. Once they get used to basic vocabulary, the will find it easier to form sentences, both written and verbal. 

Allow them to invite a friend round so that your child has someone to practise with. This will be far more beneficial than staring at books all day, because they will be able to practise pronunciation and conversation skills as well as the language in written form. There are also lots of interactive apps and online resources that they could download onto their smartphones or tablets, if they have one, that can be accessed anywhere. This means they can practise their language skills whilst waiting at the bus stop or sitting in the car on a long journey.

When it comes to learning a language, little and often is probably the best approach. If you’re child spends three hours on a Monday practising their language, they will have forgotten much of it by the time they come back to it the following Monday. Instead, it is better that they take half an hour out of each day to do a little bit of revision.

If you would like some more advice on how to help your child learn a new language, don’t hesitate to contact their teachers for some additional support.