What is the best way to teach my child English?

1. Plan what topics you will cover

Some good topics to begin with are greeting words (Hello / Hi / Goodbye / Bye), how to introduce yourself (What is your name? / My name is ….. ) and numbers one to ten. 

After you have covered the very basics in English, you need to plan what topics you will cover.  English vocabulary will be easier for your child to remember if you group the words into topics.  You can get inspiration about what topics to cover based on what resources you have for teaching your child English, and what interests your child has. 

At home you may have some toys you could use to teach your child English vocabulary, and you could use both the toys your child currently plays with or ones you still have from an early age. The topics for which you may have some toys include colours, transport, animals, food and drink. And for teaching the English vocabulary for the clothes topic, you could use the clothes in your child’s wardrobe!

It is useful to use a toy for creating short English dialogues with either your child or yourself! You could either choose a toy you already have and say that it speaks English, or you could buy a new toy or puppet and say it only speaks English!

As you teach your child English, incorporate activities which help your child develop all 4 skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening.  You can help your child develop their speaking and listening skills by talking in English with them throughout the day, using a toy/puppet to make a short dialogue in English or by playing an English vocabulary game.   Activity books can help develop your child’s reading and writing skills. By using an activity book your child will see written English words and often they are encouraged to have a go at writing some words in English too.   Stories are great to read to help develop reading skills.

2. Play games

Children often learn best through their favourite pastime - play. With English vocabulary games you can practise vocabulary with your child in a fun and meaningful context.

Board games - There are two books which contain a good variety of English vocabulary games, many of which are in the style of a board game: Photocopiable Games For Teaching EFL / ESL / EAL and English Word Games.

Simon says - Before you begin Simon says, with your child make up an action for each English word you will be practising as you play this game. To play, say “Simon says” followed by one of one of the English words, and the action. Repeat a few times. If your child doesn’t hear “Simon says” they should not repeat the English word nor do the action.

3. Model simple sentences

When your child is familiar with some words for a topic, model how to build simple sentences.   For example, you could teach your child how to ask for something or give express opinions about the things they like.

4. Read together

Many children love hearing their parents reading to them a story, and by reading stories in English you can help develop their understanding of English further.  Simple stories with everyday common words are ideal for children learning English.

Learn To Read English As You Colour by Joanne Leyland contains three great stories for English language learners:

• Six wonderful pets- A boy called Mark sees his friends with their pets. Mark would love to have a pet. Will his wish for a pet come true?
• An alien on Earth- A girl called Anne meets a friendly alien and she tells the alien why we have various things on planet Earth.
• The monkey that changes colour- A monkey changes colour every time he eats something of a different colour. Will he ever return to his original colour?

5.  Incorporate English into everyday activities

You could use English for everyday activities. Here are some useful phrases to teach your child:

Brush your teeth

Brush your hair

Wash your hands

Put your shoes on

Put your coat on 

Mealtimes - At mealtimes you could use English to offer your child some different types of food.  You could also use English to ask your child if they like something / give preferences.

Shopping - When you go to the supermarket you could write your shopping list in English and ask your child to help you find all the items on the list.

Gardening - You could teach your child how to garden by giving instructions in English.  As the plants grow you could discuss the colour and size of the fruit or flowers that grow on the plants in your garden.  You could also use English to count things.

6.  Review often

It is important to regularly review previous learning to help pass the knowledge your child has learnt to their long term memory.  Unfortunately children will forget the things they learn, unless it is well anchored in their memory so that this knowledge can then last a lifetime.  If you can, try to allocate a few minutes each day looking over one of the topics your child has already learnt.  

Here are more great activities to do to review vocabulary:

• Keep a learning journal of the vocabulary your child is learning, and arrange it in topics.  Look back regularly at the journal, just one topic at a time.
• Say a word in English, then ask questions like "Is it a cat?" or "Is it a banana?" using their first language.
• Quick quiz - ask your child how to say 5 words in English or 5 words in your native language.
  
• See how many words your child can recall from a particular topic.  Ask questions like "Can you say 3 animals in English?" or "How many animals can you say in English?"
• Show 5 objects or 5 flashcards and ask how to say these things in English.  If you use Flashcards which have the English word underneath the picture you could show your child the picture with the word only partly covered up.
• Scavenger hunt - write a list of things for your child to find. 
• Get creative - design some clothes, a menu, a town, a castle etc and ask your child to write the words in English for the things they draw.

7.  Involve the whole family

Make speaking and learning English something the whole family does!  It doesn’t matter if someone knows a little bit or a lot of English - everyone can make a difference!  Some studies have found that people remember more when they teach something new to someone else.  Therefore if there is someone who doesn’t speak any English in your family, let your child teach them what they have learnt!

Bingo - This great game can be played with the whole family!  Before you start the game, write an English vocabulary list with at least 20 words on it.  Next, each bingo player needs to choose 4 words from the vocabulary list.  The bingo caller then randomly says the words from the list, and the bingo players cross off their words as they hear them.  The winner is the first person to shout bingo.  The winner could win a pencil, a sticker or even get to choose what film everyone watches!

8.  Consider your short and long term goals

If you are planning a holiday in an English speaking country, then it would certainly be beneficial for your child to know some greeting words, please, thank you, yes, no and how to order a drink or something to eat.

Another goal may be to help your child do well academically.  If your child has English classes at school you could ask their teacher what topics they are covering so you can recap and expand on this knowledge at home.  And as they approach the age when formal exams are to be taken, you could look at the English exam syllabus so you know what topics would be useful to do.

Children want to feel they are good at things, and that their parents are proud of them.  So praise them for what they do, and encourage them if something is hard or you feel they are a bit discouraged. There is a saying that we learn from the mistakes we make, so help your child turn mistakes into a learning opportunity. English will certainly be a useful skill for your child to develop.  And what a great parent you are teaching them English!