Help your child learn English. How to teach English with a child. Combining concepts on a given basis

Habitual memorization, sitting at the table, will discourage the child from studying. Offer him alternative options for learning the language:

• while walking or charging;
• in an unusual setting (for example, in a cafe);
• learn new words by singing or drawing them;
• invent associations to complex rules and exceptions;
• find new interesting options for studying the material, based on which method of obtaining information is most comfortable for the child (visual, auditory).

Combine English and a child's hobbies

Let learning a new language become part of what the child already loves, understands and, most importantly, accepts! If this is needlework, find out how in English all the necessary devices for it are called, if a child, read how this species developed in other countries (in English, of course). Thus, you will be able to do a very big thing - to remove the rejection of the new and unusual (and therefore frightening) from the student.

Criticize according to the method sandwich"

This method is often used by managers and marketers in their work. The bottom line is that you first praise the child, then say where he made a mistake, and end on a positive note. Then criticism will be like a filling between two layers of approval, and the child (especially if we are talking about teenagers) will not have the desire to argue with you and defend yourself.

“You started to write very neatly in English! True, I made five mistakes in spelling ... But in other words, everything is fine!

Let your child be the teacher

It is sad to state this, but one parent out of a thousand is able to convey knowledge to a child. Another thing is if you let your child teach you.

For example, secretly confess to him that you don’t understand in which case it is worth using the present time, and in which case the present continuous, and ask your daughter or son to explain to you what the difference is. First, explaining something to someone is the best way to figure out a complex topic on your own. Secondly, such an approach will allow the child to try himself in a new adult role. This, of course, will be a pleasant experience for him and will allow him to consolidate a stable association: "English - treated like an adult - success."

Make English useful now

If you have a daughter, she loves Disney princesses, tell her a terrible secret: the voices of cartoon characters in Russian dubbing are not at all as good as in the original! Especially with the little mermaid Ariel, it was not for nothing that the prince was so immediately captivated by her voice. And after that, invite your daughter to review your favorite cartoon with you in the original or, at worst, in a one-voice translation by Alexei Mikhalev, in which songs are not duplicated.

If you have a son, and he, for example, is fond of computer games, offer him to play not an adapted Russian, but an English version of his favorite game. Agree that in this case the time he spends at the computer can be increased by half an hour.

Improve his vocabulary with game apps

Install on your child's phone, which will help you learn new words in English at a convenient time for the student.

It can be:

• AnkiDroid
• Memrise
• Lingualeo
• A word
• Remember
• Easy Ten

Teach him not to be afraid to make mistakes

The main reason why most of the inhabitants of Russia do not speak English is the habit developed during the school years of being afraid to make mistakes in speech.

Therefore, when traveling abroad, try to partially shift the responsibility for communicating with representatives of another country to him. You can say in a cafe: “I’m embarrassed to ask what kind of dessert this is, can you find out for me?” Or while shopping abroad, your child liked this or that toy, tell your son or daughter that you will be happy to give money for it, but the child must ask the price from the seller on his own.

What techniques do you use to motivate your child to learn a foreign language? Tell in the comments.

February 9th, 2014 Lena

It's no secret that even adult English learners find it hard to force themselves to learn words. What can we say about children! Let's say your child has just started learning English at school. You would like to work with him at home, but he does not show much interest in simply repeating words and translating them from Russian into English. Or would you like your preschooler to learn their first English words?

In my opinion, the most important thing in teaching a small child (and not only a small one) is not to discourage learning. On the contrary, it is important to arouse in him an interest, in this case, in the English language, understanding foreign words, the ability to pronounce and memorize them yourself. And the easiest way to do this is through the game. I widely use games even in lessons with adults and I am constantly convinced that a positive attitude, high spirits, which the game creates, are very important for the effective assimilation of information.

Colors.

• red-red,
• blue-blue,
• yellow,
• green-green,
• orange,
• white-white,
• black-black,
• pink,
• brown

Cut pieces of multi-colored cardboard of such a size that the child can stand on them (you can cut standard A4 sheets in half). Spread them on the floor at some distance from one another. Say colors out loud in English. The child must run to the cardboard of the corresponding color. Then you can change: the child names the colors, and you move through the cardboard boxes. If two children are playing, they can compete to see who gets to the right color faster, but I advise you then to make two pieces of each color so that the children do not push hard and do not fight!

I played a similar game with my daughter on the playground: I drew fruits and vegetables on the ground with a twig, called them in English, and she ran over them. Such running games are suitable even for very small ones, one and a half to two years old.

Simple steps:

• sit down - sit down
• stand up - get up
• jump - to jump
• clap your hands - clap your hands
• run - to run
• walk - go
• turn around - turn around
• raise your hands - raise your hands
• dance - to dance

Very small, you can simply call these actions, immediately demonstrating. At first they will simply repeat your movements, and then they will quickly remember the words and show the movements without your example. Let's complicate the task for an older child: he must execute only those commands, after which you will add please. (This is a variant of the famous game Simon says - I find it difficult to say who first came up with it). When the child remembers everything well, change: let him now command you!

Items we use at school, for example:

• pen
• pencil - pencil
• eraser - eraser
• book - book
• notebook - notebook, notebook,
• ruler - ruler
• bag - bag
• glasses - glasses
• pencil sharpener - sharpener

Put various items in a large opaque bag. Get them out of there one by one with the child and call them in English. You can blindfold and recognize objects by touch, it will be more interesting.

Furniture and other words related to the interior:

• table - dining table
• desk - desk
• bed - bed
• chair - chair
• arm chair
• sofa - sofa
• bookcase - bookcase
• cupboard - kitchen cabinet
• refrigerator, refrigerator
• cooker - stove
• wordrobe - wardrobe
• window - window
• floor - floor

This game is extremely simple and you will like it: it is good because the child will run back and forth, while you can lie down or do whatever you want. Just tell your child: "Touch the table (the bed, the chair, the door ...)" - touch something in the apartment. True, it is desirable to switch roles later, so you may have to run!

Game "Bring me ..."

Suitable for any topic, depending on what magnets / pictures / figures you find. The most interesting thing is with magnets: for example, you have a number of magnets with images of animals. Together with your child, one by one, attach them to the refrigerator, naming English words. Then, moving away from the refrigerator, say to the child “Bring me, please, the dog” - please bring the dog. If it doesn’t carry it, thank you anyway, name the word correctly, ask again to bring what you called. When all the magnets have been brought, repeat everything in reverse order - tell the child: “Put the dog on the fridge, please” - attach (put) the dog on the refrigerator. If instead of magnets you have pictures or toys, it's understandable - just lay them out somewhere on the sofa or on the floor. If there are several children, you can arrange a competition - only, again, it’s better and then there are more pictures.

Children often prefer that you name colors, say commands, etc., and they just do it: saying English words out loud by yourself is much more difficult than understanding what is said. Rather, it takes more time to speak on your own. When playing with my daughter, I try to be understanding and not rush her if she doesn't want to switch roles. Sooner or later, feeling that all the words are already well known to her, she agrees.

How else can you help your child learn English? We have several baby dolls from Paola Reina, which makes dolls of different nationalities. Our collection includes two black baby dolls and two Asian ones. When my daughter was little, we told her that these dolls do not know Russian, and you should only speak English with them. Dolls often “talked” with her, because if suddenly mom or dad starts to communicate only in English for no reason, it may seem strange and even perceived by the child with hostility. And when they do the same on behalf of the doll, it’s a completely different matter ...

If you don’t have time at all, even for short classes, just put the child in the background with songs in English. It's amazing how quickly children learn them and how long they remember. (It is not necessary that every word be understood and known, just a few key words and a general idea of ​​​​what this song is about. The same applies to poetry and books - I usually, when reading books to children in English, do not translate everything that I read, but I try to rely more on pictures, gestures, sounds.)

How do you study English with your child? Please tell us in the comments!

5 comments on the entry “How to help your child remember English words: ideas for moms.”

Thank you very much for the article. You have given a sufficient number (and described the rules in an accessible way) of games that parents can play with their children and practice the simplest English phrases together. This will be enough for a long time. It is not a problem to find a description of the games, but it is very important that you offer the mother and the child to change places: the mother names the objects, the actions - the child manipulates, and then vice versa. Often "enthusiastic" parents flirt and crush with their leadership, constantly voicing everything, commenting and asking questions. I myself am prone to this and from my own experience I know what it is fraught with. The first daughter meekly endured my leadership, but as a defense she closed herself and went into herself. As a result, she has a strange combination of respect for the English language and the desire to know it and the unwillingness to study it on her own (she is already 19). The second daughter is a leader herself, and her “strike”, her refusal to engage can, just be overcome by offering her the first roles, which did not immediately dawn on me. At the same time, it is undoubtedly positive that the child in this case becomes a full-fledged and full-fledged, active participant in communication. That is, he can ask a question, and answer, and voice a request, and fulfill it. There is, however, one difficulty that thinking parents will face. This is a selection of authentic phrases in your micro-communication with a child in a non-native language for both of you. On the one hand, I want the phrases not to be artificially translated from Russian into English, but just those that “there” are really used by real people. Then, when communicating with "native speakers" of the language, you will experience delight when you can recognize familiar phrases and you yourself will also be understood. On the other hand, such phrases may be more difficult to understand and, accordingly, to remember. In this regard, I would advise parents who want to teach their children English and gradually include communication in this language in their everyday life, in no case rely on their school knowledge, especially if you are over 30, but turn to videos for kids, created by native speakers. There are a lot of them on the Internet now.

Elena's advice on using an outside character, a doll, for example, in order to soften the "intrusion" of a foreign language into your usual course of life, is also very useful. Be sure to use! Now my three kids are already calm about English in the house, because my mother and older sister communicate with each other in this language. So - it's not scary, even if dad is not involved in this. But for my eldest daughter, I sewed a Masha-Mary doll with my own hands, which I put on my hand and who was my assistant and, after class, my daughter's friend.

The topic of studying in Russia is actually relevant and interesting. Dear parents, let's continue it. Elena will certainly comment on us and give valuable advice. Truth?

Pavel Burtovoy

Video designer of the St. Petersburg media channel "First Popular Television". He is fond of cinematography, animation and everything connected with it.

My son has been studying English at school for the second year. Recently I found out that his knowledge in this area is simply terrible. Problems were found even with the alphabet. Something had to be done.

For some reason, the method of memorizing words using double-sided cards did not work in our situation. Probably due to poor knowledge of the alphabet. I am generally silent about various programs for a smartphone: the child’s language learning is not zero, but rather negative, so that these programs can interest him.

I had to, relying on the experience of my predecessors, develop and test my own method. Well, personally manage the learning process.

A bit of theory

Memorization can be reduced to a cyclical process of three components:

1. Perception.
2. Repetition.
3. Testing.

When we want the child to remember the information, the task becomes more complicated: it is not clear how well he perceived it, how many times he repeated it, and testing the student leads to stress and negative emotions in case of a bad result.

Let's look at all three components of the memorization process and how they can be improved.

Perception

For high-quality perception, it is desirable to use as many types of memory as possible: auditory, visual, motor. You can also add such a variety as verbal memory.

Repetition

When repeating the material, oddly enough, an effective method turned out to be multiple recording of the subjects being studied with their simultaneous pronunciation.

I read about this method in the memoirs of a Soviet intelligence officer. He called this technique the most effective for increasing vocabulary.

The effectiveness of the combination of multiple rewriting of words with their simultaneous pronunciation can be explained by the fact that all possible types of memory are involved in the process.

Rewriting allows you to automate the process, depersonalize it. In addition, recorded words document the fact of repetition and make it possible to find out which material is remembered better and which is worse.

Testing

When testing knowledge, it would be good to hide the very fact of testing from the child, but leave a reward for its successful completion. That is, hide the whip, but stick out the gingerbread in every possible way.

If confirmed, then the cycle "perception - repetition - testing" is interrupted. If not, we repeat. So there is an incentive to quickly learn all the material.

At the same time, knowledge is obtained in portions and tested in portions, and not like this: "Sit down, now I will check how you learned what you were asked today."

How the method works

Since the son did not know the alphabet very well, we started with him. I found the simplest recipes on the Internet, similar to these:

First, I got my son to fully associate the pronunciation of each letter with its spelling: this will be very important in the future. After the alphabet, we moved on to words. To do this, I used and continue to use an ordinary student notebook in a ruler or sheets from such a notebook. In the margins I write the Russian meanings of the words (expressions) that I have to learn.

On the appropriate lines you need to write these words. Since each word is new, I allow you to rewrite it from the textbook for the first time. Then the son writes the word as many times as it fits on the line.

At the same time, he not only writes, but every time he says the word aloud.

At the end, the sheet turns over, and there is a surprise! The same Russian words are in the margins, and you need to fill in all the lines with their English counterparts, but without peeping into the textbook.

Three important points:

1. I'm against the child, I do not reproach him for mistakes.
2. If he doesn't remember the spelling, I spell it out (this is where a good knowledge of the alphabet comes in handy).
3. If the child wrote and pronounced the word without prompts the first time, then there is an agreement between us that he does not repeat it on the entire line. In the future, the word is removed from the lists. It is believed that it has been learned and the cycle of "perception - repetition - testing" is completed for it.

The process is repeated until all words from the original list are excluded. The photo below is about the fourth iteration.

In the same way, we previously taught the alphabet with our son. I wrote in Russian “hey”, “bi”, “si”, “di” and so on in the margins, and my son filled in the lines with English uppercase and lowercase letters.

Pros and cons of the method

The method has several strengths. Almost all types of memory are involved: auditory, visual, verbal and motor. Learning is stress-free, the student does not suffer.

The rules of the game are simple and fair. We can say that the method works automatically and the result appears as if by itself. A vivid demonstration of the dialectical principle of the transition of quantity into quality. The algorithm is applicable for repeating forgotten material and is easily scaled for different volumes of words.

The method gives the student objective criteria for achieving the goal. There are real incentives to quickly learn everything and go for a walk.

The disadvantages of this method of learning are also obvious: you need a lot of paper and a "supervisor".

The son learned the spelling and pronunciation of the English names of the days of the week in an evening. The next day I received an A on the test paper, the praise and surprise of the teacher. And this is not the only success.

It was also interesting to observe how the material, if not repeated. First of all, the ability to write without errors disappears, then the pronunciation begins to suffer, and last of all, the sound of the word is forgotten. But the ability to recognize it in the text remains for a long time.

I do not think that the method is ideal, but using the memorization mechanisms described, you can always come up with something of your own.

Most parents understand that being able to speak English fluently will be critical to their child's future success, especially if they want to study at prestigious universities. However, language learning is not easy, especially for children. Many parents would like to teach their children English language right at home, but don't know where to start.

English for kids online for free

Now there are many online games for memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary development, songs, stories and poems in English, videos and a whole range of interactive exercises and tasks that make learning English a pleasure.

In order for English lessons to bring a visible result, you need to interest the child. We want to present you with several resources, the materials of which can truly captivate the child in the process of learning English.

A great online resource with a huge selection of games for children. The site is very colorful, everything is written in capital letters and in Russian - it will be easy for your child and you, if you do not speak English, to find the topics that suit you. Read, color, learn words, the alphabet, Teremok will help you!

This site is British and here you can find not only exercises for learning English, but also for studying other school subjects in English! Suitable for children with a more advanced level of language proficiency and for those who are interested in in-depth study of English.

This resource is divided into sections (grammar, vocabulary, etc.). Each section has a number of exercises to practice. Do not be afraid that this portal is presented in English. If your child still does not know English very well, then the English-language site, the wording of the tasks will do him good.

Finally

Remember that it is important to help your child learn a foreign language, support, praise him, and then in the future it will not be difficult for him to speak like a real native speaker! Confidence in English can give your child an edge in making the most of educational and career opportunities in the future. But do not forget that for the best results, you can always turn to qualified specialists who can even give via Skype.

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