Teaching English to Children

by Yolanda
(Málaga, Spain)

I have just come across your web page looking for information on how to go about teaching my children aged 4 and 2 English.

I was born in London and I lived there until I was 20 but I now live in Spain. I speak English with my sister who also lives here but I never thought that it would be so difficult for me to speak English to my children (at least 100% of the time). I find myself speaking Spanish to them most of the time and I know it's wrong if I want them to grow up with both languages.

Now with the long summer holidays coming up, I really want to make the effort to speak more English to them but I would also like to start teaching them how to read or at least, to get familiar with the english phonics.

I am a bit lost and would really appreciate your help and advice. I was all set to buy "my baby can read" which is being continuosly advertised on british TV but it hasn't completely convinced me.

Thank you for your time. It would be great to hear from you.
Best regards,
Yolanda

Hi Yolanda!

This is my quick reply...but I will be replying again when I have more time to research everything. :)

I live in Huelva, which is pretty close to Malaga (for me anyway...as Canada is huge when compared to Spain). I think this is a great question and I totally understand that speaking to your children in English is harder than you thought it would be.

I speak English with my husband and we try to keep our house an "English zone" but it is harder than it sounds. Sometimes it is easier to speak in Spanish or we sometimes mix the two in mid-sentence which can get a bit confusing but trying to teach a child English is different (I think).

I don't have any kids -right now- but when I do I will be faced with the same problem. What would I do if I were you?

Well, first of all I think I would try to take some of the pressure off myself. Yes, you should be speaking in English as much as you can, but you need to accept the fact that no one is perfect and everyone needs a break sometimes. You can't speak English all the time.

So with that realistic idea in mind what can you do?

I would suggest Disney movies! The classics are amazing and a great way to incorporate English into your child's life. You could watch a new movie a couple times a week, or even have a "movie night" once a week. Remember, kids like to play and have fun so everything that you do in English needs to be fun!

Another thing you can do is get English tv shows everything from Pocoyo (yes he is in English too), to Winnie the Pooh. Like movies tv shows/cartoons are fun and a great way to incorporate English into your child's day. Tv shows might be something you can do everyday where as a movie could be a special event.

Now for reading. I've never had to teach children to read...not even in English but I am sure the same ideas apply.

Make it fun, make it consistent and you will have some happy bilingual children.

Like I said at the beginning I will be adding more to my answer in the next couple of days, so do check back. I'd like to look at that program you mentioned and also think about how you could teach your kids to read.

Please do post again and let us know how it is going and what you end up doing with your kids.

Also, if anyone else has some advice please leave Yolanda a note below!