Tips for parents to motivate children to learn English

Tips for parents to motivate a child to learn English

Nowadays, it appears to be vital to master a foreign language, mainly, the English Language. Knowing English opens a great amount of opportunities for children. Childhood is the best stage of life to learn a foreign language and parents should pay a special attention to their children’s development at this time. Education is a non-stop, continuous process and a pupil must not stop learning when he comes back from school. Parents should help young learners to do homework, to revise rules and to memorize new words at home. Here are some tips for parents to assist their children to learn a foreign language.

Don’t criticize! Some parents often say: “You are not allowed to go outside until you have finished the homework on English!” or “Your cousin always reads poems and retells stories in English, but you can’t even remember the names of simple objects!” Such sorts of phrases can hurt a kid and his eagerness to learn a language fades away. That’s why parents shouldn’t criticize and compare their child with other peers. On the contrast, they must try to understand what blocks a child to speak a language fuently. Some pupils are always shy about their pronunciation or afraid of using an incorrect word. In such situations, parents must support their child by praising him.

Watch cartoons in English. Watching cartoons in English is both useful and interesting. Heroes of cartoons use simple language units, and if a pupil does not understand the meaning of a word, depicted emotions and special music sounds help him to guess. Having watched a particular cartoon, a young learner often begins to sing a song from it or repeat funny phrases that he has heard while watching the cartoon.

Be an example. Children often try to copy the behavior of elders. It is unlikely for a kid to desire to master English if his parents have no interest in it. Saying such phrases as “…I didn’t learn English at school because I disliked our teacher, she always shouted at us…” or “…my teacher didn’t know the language well himself…” at the presence of your child is even worse. It is better when parents explain their son or daughter that they regret missing the opportunity of learning a foreign language when they were younger. Not knowing English stops their promotion in the carrier, and they wish they could talk with a foreign tourist during a holiday. So, begin learning English together with your child. He or she will be inspired by your example.

Read English books together. It is not enough to buy your kid an English book. If you ask him to read for you or try to interpret the meaning of the story with the help of illustrations, he will become interested in reading the book. After a while, you will notice that your child takes a book without anybody’s persuasion and starts listing it or even reading carefully. Looking through the pages, a young learner’s brain will “take a photo” of words and try to remember the meaning and spelling. The principle in choosing a book should be based on “from the easiest to the most difficult” content.

Play! Some parents make a considerable effort to have their child learn English through textbooks on grammar and dictionaries. However, if the kid takes no pleasure in learning a foreign language, doing exercises and memorizing words will become more boring and boring for him. In this case, your solution is games! Play developing games as often as you can. You may also prepare special flashcards to use during a game or memorize common verbs to organize a game “Mime and guess” an others.

Speak English! Practicing and training is rather important in learning process. For this reason, parents should create an appropriate atmosphere to speak English. For example, greet in English, talk about the weather, while asking to pass or bring something recite the object in English. But if you don’t know elementary words or phrases, ask your kid to explain and teach you. Once a week you can organize English Day, when you are to speak only English. On the condition that somebody forgets to talk in English, they will get a “punishment” like sweeping the yard or washing the dishes.

Show a real usage of English. Elders always say that it is urgent to learn English. Nonetheless, they never explain why it is so. It is difficult for a child to imagine where they can use their English. Abstract notions and opinions cannot give a concrete sample. That’s why, always set the situations, in which a pupil can show his knowledge. For instance:

• Ask to translate the labels of some products on doing the shopping around the supermarket;

• Ask to translate a word of a song that you are listening in a taxi;

• “Accidentally” change the language of your mobile phone and ask for help to solve a problem.

When your kid manages to fulfill your request, both you and your son or daughter will be happy and motivated to continue learning English.

To conclude, it is apparent that nothing can assist a young learner to master a foreign language, but support and encouragement of parents. Taking all the options stated above into consideration, it is ordinary that if you want a brilliant future for your generation, try to be more attentive, a bit creative, and very patient on bringing up your child. And of course, don’t forget to follow my advice!

Gulnara Ruzmatova

The English teacher of the school № 6

Kattakurgan town Samarkand region