Teaching children a second language can be challenging, but starting at 30-36 months old and using the “one parent, one language” method can help. Providing access to books, music, and media in the second language can also aid learning. Starting too early or too late can hinder fluency.
Teaching children languages other than their native language can be a challenge, but it’s one that many people find worthwhile. Although some people believe that the teaching process should start from the moment the child is born, others believe that it is best to start when the child is 30-36 months old, after he has become accustomed to his first language. If the goal is to make the child truly bilingual, one effective method is to have one person speak almost exclusively in one language and another person speak almost exclusively in the second language. Giving your child access to children’s books, children’s programs, and children’s music in the second language can also help them learn faster.
Deciding when to start teaching children languages other than their native language will make all the difference in how quickly they will be able to learn the new language. Many people believe that starting to teach a second language too early will confuse a child and that they will have difficulty understanding both their first and second languages. For this reason, it is often recommended that the process of teaching a child a second language not begin until they are nearly 3 years old. It’s true that learning languages can be easier for children than it often is for adults, but teaching languages to children can become much more difficult after they learn to read in their first language. It’s never too late to start learning a new language, but children who start learning before starting school often have a harder time speaking their second language fluently.
One of the most effective ways to teach a child two languages at the same time is the “one parent, one language” method. It is an approach that works well if the goal is to make the child bilingual, i.e. fluent in two different languages. Under this system, one parent or guardian always tries to speak to the child in one language and the other parent or guardian always tries to speak to the child in the other language. Using this method is believed to dramatically reduce the confusion a child might experience while learning two different languages. This is an especially good system to use if each parent is fluent in the language they will be speaking to the child.
To assist in teaching languages to children, an environment can be created that is designed to assist in this endeavor. When purchasing picture books and other reading materials for a child, a person might try to purchase similar books in the language the child is taught. If your child likes listening to children’s music, you could purchase recordings of children’s music in the second language. Recordings of films, children’s programs and even music videos in the second language can also be purchased. It should be kept in mind that children often learn things faster and more successfully when they are taught new ideas and concepts in a fun and entertaining way.
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