I’ve got a friend who is father to an eight year old son. His son knows the English alphabet and not much more. He wants to know what he can do, as a father, to help his son “learn” English (there is a much better phrase for this, something like “gradually strengthen his English language skills,” but I am tired and you get the point anyway).
The father is willing to devote several hours a week to helping his son with this. The father’s spoken English and grasp of grammar principles is good; I’d give him a 7 out of 10 if a 10 means he makes very few mistakes and can speak unhindered by the necessity to think in the first language before responding. Of course, he isn’t a teacher, which is why he’s wondering which direction to go in.
What advice would you give him?
Specifically, is there a children’s English school you’d recommend? The family lives in YongHe. Is there a particular branch of one of the chains in that area that you know about and feel confident with?
Aside from enrolling him in an after school program, what can they do as a family to build and enhance his English language skills? I’ve got my own ideas, but I have very little experience teaching children.
This just off the top of my head, Tomas, but is the father reading to his son regularly in English? I am talking about an hour every day.
Families in Taipei can check out up to 30 books from the public libraries (with a “family” membership, based on family residence). So, there’s no need to buy lots of books. I know the main branch of the Taipei City library has a great children’s sections with many of the books in English.
Grammar books? Language schools? Sorry, I can’t help there. But it sounds as if this father is willing to spend the time, so I would recommend reading aloud to his son (and making it interactive–asking questions in English, asking his son to describe what he is seeing in pictures, asking his son to predict what will happen next).
Reading aloud to children is supposed to increase vocabluary along with a host of other benefits, for both native-speaking children and non-native-speaking children (or so I’ve read ).
I absolutely agree about the interactive reading aloud. Using audio cassettes or CDs along with the reading books would also be good sometimes although still with Dad’s participation of course.
Later, the son can progress to independent recreational reading.
I have met a number of kids who have attained reasonable communicative ability mainly through reading and being read to.
At some point, focus on form will be useful too, and the experiential knowledge gained from reading will make the conscious formal reflection a lot easier and more meaningful. Most childrens’ English textbooks follow a grammatical syllabus of some sort and a good buxiban would be useful in this regard.
The other thing the father can do is use some very basic English around the house. If he goes the cram school route he can use the practical phrases his son learns in class in the house. “Turn on the TV”, “Do your homework”, “eat dinner”, etc. But using them regularly (not to the exclusion of Chinese) he can help reinforce learning.
If he doesn’t go the cram school route, he can teach the phrases himself while performing the actions. The kid will soon learn from the father’s use what the words mean.
I agree that is the best advice. " read,read, read" I agree.
The other thing the father can do is use some very basic English around the house. If he goes the cram school route
“better to go to caves, get the books and teach the cram school books at home, add some writing!”
he can use the practical phrases his son learns in class in the house. “Turn on the TV”, “Do your homework”, “eat dinner”, etc. But using them regularly (not to the exclusion of Chinese) he can help reinforce learning.
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