How I Teach a Foreign Language

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It is more and more accepted that foreign language learning must start as early as possible.

Imagine a toddler who is learning to speak. He has to figure out the meaning of each word, he has to learn it, and then he has to utter it properly. This is also the case with foreign language learning. A child can learn many languages at a very young age with the same method. Scientists figured out that everybody can utter all the sounds on Earth until the age of one or two. If somebody is exposed to many languages (sounds) at this young age, he will be able to utter sounds that do not belong to his mother tongue, and is impossible to be sounded by others among his people. This means that a person, who studies a foreign language at an early age, will speak that language fluently without any accent.

A child’s brain is like a sponge, it absorbs all the information around them. Unfortunately they forget very quickly, though. This means that they can learn almost everything, but they forget it quickly unless it is repeated and revised. So repetition is very important. But the knowledge is not lost. In the case of foreign language learning, the basics are laid, so even though the child does not use the target language for many years, he will be able to re-study it later, and it will help him in learning other foreign languages, too.

Children like to play, that is why it is easier to teach them a foreign language. Children’s rhymes and songs can help a lot. They need to be exposed to the target language at a very young age because later (at the age of 3 or 4) they may reject it. Once they got used to it, it is not a problem for them to listen to it or communicate on that language.

I live in Europe with my husband and two children (Johanna 6 years old, Samuel 2 years old). I come from Romania, my mother’s family lives in Slovakia and my husband is a Ukrainian citizen and we all are Hungarians. I study Ukrainian and Slovakian and I teach my children, too. I teach them English, too because I speak it, and this is the easiest way to teach them a language. So they are exposed to four languages. Their mother tongue is Hungarian, and they are pretty good at English. They know words and some sentences in Ukrainian and Slovakian, too.

How do I do it? I am very blessed that I have encountered a website (and then many more) that had articles on teaching children foreign languages. My daughter was four and a half, my son was five months old, when I realized that I had to start teaching them at that moment. This website is Hungarian (www.okosbaba.hu) and it is a method very similar to the Doman method. Foreign language teaching is only a small part of this method, but I have realized that I cannot teach everything to my children at once (to read at the age of two, data about many things around us), so I am happy that I can use this method combined with many others to teach my children foreign languages.

According to this method I show picture cards to my children while saying the word. This can be done with slideshows on computer, too. So I present the new vocabulary with pictures (I also use the written word) on computer (using a voice reader or a native speaker’s voice). Then I build sentences and I present them on computer. I like to make slideshows on our favorite books, thus they can already understand the story when I read to them.

There is another famous and effective method, that of Helen Doron’s (www.helendoron.com). Many teachers teach English as a second language across the world with her method. This method is based on native speaking environment (the teacher and children use only English during the classes. They use flashcards, games to present the new words, no translation), that is brought to the children’s home through CDs, that they listen to twice a day. I use this method frequently when my children play and the foreign language CD is on. They listen to songs and tales. They don’t realize that they are absorbing the words and sentences while playing. Other times I present the new words heard on CD with their toys or by doing actions. The best songs are those which have a very easy lyric. Sometimes I ask native speakers of Ukrainian or Slovakian (or voice readers in English) to record some easy sentences that are present in some of our board books. My children don’t have to memorize words because they acknowledge the new words during play time.

My children may watch only foreign language DVDs. Hungarian DVDs are for holiday or reward. We use DVDs that have an easy language, and they can learn very much by just watching and listening.

I teach English to young children. In a group of 5-7 children it is easy to have conversations and play games in the target language. With these children I also use sign language. It is more effective to present the new vocabulary accompanied with a sign for each word. Instead of inventing signs, I use the American Sign Language. I also use puppets who are talking to each other during the class. Thus the children are motivated to respond to these puppets who can talk only English.

It is wise to help our children separate the languages. We can use flags (American flag when we talk in English), rugs (we had a colored rug with an English and with a Ukrainian side), puppets who can only speak the target language.

It is easy to teach a language that I speak. I only have to talk to my children on that language and to use some extra tools mentioned above.

But what can I do if I don’t speak the language I want to teach them?

The solution is, that I have to study that language, too. I don’t have to be an expert in it, but I have to prepare a little ahead. I do this with Ukrainian and Slovakian. My children are not so good at these two languages because I cannot just talk to them during the day, but they know more than their peers.

I have great results with my children that makes me more motivated. I know that even if they will not have to use these languages, it would be much easier for them to learn another foreign language, and their knowledge would be broader and their brain would be trained (even for studying other subjects).

For more ideas and some videos you can visit my blogs:
www.caterpillarschool.blogspot.com
www.gesztus.blogspot.com
http://umova.multiply.com/video

Spanish slideshows and resources:
http://theclassicalmommy.com/spanish.html
http://www.childandme.com/teaching-spanish-resources/

My name is Eszter Gergely. I come from Romania, I live in Ukraine but I am Hungarian. I am a homeschool mother of two children, Johanna (6) and Samuel (2). I am a believer and I am very thankful to God for my family and for the opportunity that I can homeschool in Europe, where homeschooling is weird and not legalized at many places. I like to prepare and make lapbooks and other resources for homeschooling. I hope that soon there will be Hungarian Christian homeschooling resources, too.