When to start learning a foreign language with a child. Early English teaching for a child

Anna Pochepaeva, head of the English department at the largest private school, shares her advice on when to start teaching English to a child.

For modern life, English is necessary for everyone and is mandatory. So, teaching a child English is necessary in advance? From diapers? Or is there some special age to start learning foreign languages? Let's try to figure it out.

A child is often compared to a sponge that absorbs everything new. Of course, children are more receptive to any new information, and therefore there is an opinion that learning a foreign language should start from a young age. On the other hand, a number of experts believe that it is necessary to start when a person understands and consciously makes a choice of language. In addition, there is a theory that you can start learning a foreign language at any time, there would be a scope and serious motivation. Who is right?

Early education of the child in English. Pros and cons.

To begin with, I emphasize that problems with native speech can be called an absolute contraindication to teaching a child English. If a child has a poor vocabulary in his native language, he confuses the meanings of words, there are gross violations of sound pronunciation, there is a sinking of individual sounds, or there are other speech therapy problems, then learning a foreign language will only interfere with speech development in his native language. We need to solve problems with our native language!

In other cases, there are no contraindications to teaching a child English from an early age, and it is better to start, no matter how trite it may sound, from the age when the child is ready. And he is ready when he speaks his native language well, basically this happens by 5 years.

There is a scientific explanation for this. Physiologists have proven that a child up to nine years old is a specialist in mastering speech, this is how our brain works. Later, the brain mechanisms of speech become less flexible and from about the age of 10 the student has to overcome many obstacles. Specialists know that it is easier for young children to learn to pronounce sounds different from their native speech. Moreover, they often demonstrate such a phenomenal ability to memorize words or expressions that adults never dreamed of.

However, teaching a foreign language to three-four-year-old children is not an easy task. Excessive activities that children are stuffed with early development courses (which try to live up to the dream of parents about geeks) are fraught with serious consequences for the psyche of the child.

At best, he will simply stop liking learning the language. At worst, failing to satisfy the "application" of the parents, the baby will close in on himself. An unsuccessful child is unhappy, and such self-esteem slows down the emotional and social development of the child. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the teacher who will begin teaching the child English.

Teachers teaching preschool children must be specially trained, have experience working with a children's audience. In addition, training can take place only in a playful, interactive form, in constant dynamics, with a variety of activities throughout the lesson.

So why are most parents, nevertheless, so eager to start teaching their child English from the cradle? In my opinion, the early familiarization of children with foreign languages, which is so fashionable today, can be justified only in cases where parents are able to create an appropriate language environment around the child: by inviting a foreign tutor to the house or constantly communicating with him in a foreign language, as is the case in bilingual families.

Historical example

Mother tongue of Vladimir Nabokov

In the aristocratic family of the Nabokovs, English culture, traditions, and language were organically woven into the life of the Nabokovs. In addition to governesses and English bonnes, the whole way of the family was English. The writer's mother, Elena Ivanovna, was fluent in five foreign languages and, while working with children, often switched to English, her own uncle spoke in a bizarre mixture of French, English and Italian, fundamentally ignoring Russian. Six-year-old Vladimir and his younger brother Sergei could write and read English well, but they did not know the Russian alphabet at all. Before school, parents noticed and began to correct their pedagogical error. But literary historians know that Vladimir Nabokov, living in exile, wrote books in English, and then translated them into Russian himself.

Linguistic environment

An undoubted advantage in creating a fruitful atmosphere for a child to learn English or another foreign language is teaching children of different nationalities at the same time. For them, teaching a child English becomes not a boring discipline, but a means of communication.

Playing together, after three to four months, children begin to understand what they are told, after six - to answer, after a year - to speak. The emphasis in this form of education is not on the study of foreign languages, but rather on the general developmental effect that such classes give. The speech environment in which children are immersed is a decisive factor, especially in teaching a child English. With her four-year-old son, my friend (a linguist-teacher by education) practices English unobtrusively, just interweaving English phrases into her speech from time to time. He can already distinguish familiar English words by ear in songs, he can read them in magazines or on a computer screen.

A friend of mine, a teacher, began teaching English to a child from childhood, from about a year and a half. Now he is about 20 and he understands native speakers, films in English are better than him! Of course, he has more knowledge, but children have a great advantage - a sense of language, instilled from childhood. If you want to study from an early age, you need to pay special attention to the development of perception, listen to cassettes in English, watch fairy tales and cartoons. By the way, later the children begin to love the second foreign language and willingly study it. They do not have the problem that most suffer - "learning a language is difficult and boring."

How to teach English / foreign language to a child

As a practicing teacher, I would add that the reasonable teaching of English to a child in early childhood facilitates the perception of foreign languages in the future, increases children's self-esteem and colors the child's life with additional colors. Just let's clarify what is necessary at an early age acquaintance with language, not learning. Before school, language is needed in order for children to develop, so that they understand that there are different languages in the world, and each of them is somewhat different from the other. Instill a sense of language, prepare the brain for future learning. This is precisely what competent methods of teaching a foreign language are aimed at. All classes should be playful - this is due to the peculiarities of the child's psyche. Therefore, I advise parents, when choosing a course, a kindergarten or a school, to ask the teacher about the methodology by which the training will take place.

Now very popular game technique Meshcheryakova. Everything is told through toys. The teacher does not tell the children that the bear is "bear", but I show the bear and say the English word. In the classroom, children sing songs, play different games, for example, in the "shop". Children remember phrases such as "How much does it cost?" because they understand what is being asked in a meaningful way. For children, this is a kind of immersion method. Two months later, classes are held without the Russian language at all, five-year-olds begin to talk. They make up, albeit incorrectly, phrases that they did not know before. If a child says a phrase incorrectly, he is not scolded or corrected. The teacher says: “Yes, you are right”, and says the correct option. And this is a constant encouragement: you say everything correctly, well done, and then the teacher pronouncing the correct option gives a much greater effect than criticizing the child. If you force children to cram, the result will be negative.

And one more important point. Regardless of which path the parents choose, it is worth remembering that any knowledge is retained in the head only as long as it is needed, as long as the memory refers to it. So it's useless to start early if you don't use them later. Otherwise, by the time of entering the university, only the most trivial phrases can remain from the vocabulary.

Intensive

In the Soviet past, there was a popular myth that a foreign language cannot be learned quickly. Parents do not know that there are modern, more intensive teaching methods that allow you to master a foreign language in just 10-11 months. If you stop believing that “you won’t learn a foreign language in less than 6 years”, “it’s better to learn all ten”, then the conclusion suggests itself that, in principle, it doesn’t matter when exactly to start learning a language. After all, always, having come to the courses, you can learn to speak and understand speech in English in a year. You often see people who started teaching English to a child at school, however, when they come to the courses, they learn more new things than in all ten years at school. But most importantly, if at school it seemed to them that teaching a child English is impossible, then after the first lesson it becomes clear that there is nothing difficult, you just need to attend classes and do homework. And if the ability to communicate in a foreign language is considered as the ultimate goal, then a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe result and the desire to achieve it can make learning more effective.

Asking the question about When is the best time for a child to start learning a foreign language?, think, why would he need English? And at what age will he feel the need to speak English?

If this age turns out to be not 6 or 10 years old, maybe it would be better for him to decide when to start learning the language? For adults, of course, learning a foreign language is not so easy and spontaneous, but adults are motivated and can achieve success, even if they really do not have communication practice. Today, English can be learned in a year and not "under duress", but with pleasure, and can significantly change the idea of a future profession.

Opinions of members of the forum on the topic "How old do you have to learn English with a child"

lvovaNV
I want my daughter to speak English well. At what age is it better to start training and how? That is, give it to a specialized kindergarten or hire a teacher?

Miroslava
In order for a child to know English better, it is not necessary to hire a teacher for him. It is enough that you will study with him for twenty minutes a day, starting from two years old, if possible, then earlier, buy a book for kids, where each word is indicated by a picture. It is very good if the child, on a par with his native, will also study a foreign language, so he will quickly master both.

LenaMas
I believe that it is better to start learning a language before school. But you can not overload the child with classes. You can give the baby to some kind of English club for preschoolers. But if you don’t want to, then start learning the language with your child yourself in a playful way. In order for the child to master the language, it is necessary to immerse him in the language environment. And preferably from the age of 2-3 years, that is, from the kindergarten. And of course a tutor will not help here, you need a team.

Diana
There is no exact answer to your question, lvovaNV. Firstly, it all depends on how well you yourself speak a foreign language. Secondly, why do you want to teach your child to speak a foreign language. If, for example, you are planning to go abroad with your child and have a good command of a foreign language, then you can start teaching your child from infancy by constantly talking to him in a foreign language.

yra0203
In my opinion, it is not necessary to immerse the child in learning another language from early childhood, this should be done from about 5 years old.

Melena
If you take things seriously, then from early childhood. But you have to talk all the time, you or the governess. If for show-off - it's never too late.

Ruslan
It is difficult for me to understand how it is possible to start teaching a child English at the age of two - the child still does not really speak his native language. But somewhere from four or five you can start and, moreover, in a playful way, it is desirable.

Belladonna
At one time I studied German at school, so when the child turned two years old, I began to think about how I could help him master English. Already at the age of three we went to an early development school, where one of the subjects was English. The group consisted of 10 to 12 people. Engaged there in the form of a game. The first three years, in general, they only learned words by ear. Now my child is 8 years old, we write auditory dictations. For myself, I concluded that teaching a child English with a tutor is not enough, because. in this case, the child hears only the speech of the teacher and his own. It is very important to study in a group with children in order to hear not only the correct speech of the teacher, but also the erroneous speech of their peers and then learn to find and mentally try to correct their mistakes. All this helps to quickly learn English, which is now used almost everywhere.

aleex72
At what age to learn English with a child - It seems to me that at too early an age you should not start learning English either. I think from seven is the most suitable age! Although this is my personal opinion!

fenist
Speaking English is a dream for many of us! But learning a language for years? We don't have time. If only I could learn it faster!.. There is a solution! You have the opportunity to make a real breakthrough in learning English, namely to speak English!

Yuliya_1989
I agree that you need to start as early as possible. Because they remember it better. When I went to school, I knew the basic phrases, knew how to count and knew the alphabet. And already at school it was hard to understand something. And with my baby I I started studying since the year. I bought a book with pictures, and he is interested, and I remember it myself. Sometimes it even seems that for him words in English are easier to remember.

ursiks
How old do you have to be to teach English to a child? I think it's individual. When deciding when to start learning languages, you need to look at the development of the child and his abilities. The thing is, we are all different people.

Otiniya
Agree with ursiks. Everything is individual, one child at the age of 3 knows the names of all animals in English and everything is fine with speech. And another child, at the age of 6, is engaged with a speech therapist - he is struggling with acquired speech defects (thanks to learning English at 5 years old).

Hello.
For a year I have been dealing with the question of how to teach kids English. She even wrote a book on the subject. If you're interested send me a private message and I'll share it.

For some reason, everyone says that children learn quickly and grab everything on the fly. And that supposedly therefore it is necessary to start giving children all sorts of useful knowledge as early as possible. I don't understand why people still believe this. It seems to me that it is impossible not to notice that compared to adults, children learn incredibly, hellishly slowly. Some of my friends started learning Spanish three months ago and already know how to handle the five tenses. In Spanish, not just like that. And my mother, we still don’t understand why, unexpectedly for everyone, she went to draw four months ago, and she already draws so well that it’s hard for me to believe that she actually does it. This never happens with children, but with a second language you still have to start sometime, so it’s good to understand when it’s best to do this.

I will talk about what science says, and then about what considerations I was guided by when I decided to start teaching my daughter English.

General considerations

Older children learn a foreign language more easily than younger children.
Adults learn a foreign language more easily than children.
Children of migrants who start learning the language of the host country earlier achieve greater success in it than those who start learning it later.

At first glance, these data contradict each other. But they concern two different situations of mastering a foreign language:

a). traditional learning of a foreign language,

b). learning a foreign language by immersion (as a native).

Everything about early foreign language learning makes sense, provided it is immersion learning.

"English from the cradle"

One of the most popular topics related to teaching foreign languages is bilingualism. Most often, children become bilingual either in families where parents speak different languages, or in families of migrants who continue to speak their native language at home.

But now more and more people write about bilinguals "by choice" (bilingual by choice). This is when parents make efforts to create conditions for the child from an early age in which he can learn a second language in much the same way as the first - by immersion. This could be, for example, an English-speaking nanny, a family tradition of speaking German every evening at dinner, or even a parent's decision to speak a foreign language to their child. Later, this approach is complemented by immersion groups for children led by native speakers, trips to spoken countries, and possibly bilingual schooling.

!!!Important!!! If you decide to teach your child a foreign language from the cradle, remember that watching cartoons and TV shows in a foreign language at such an early age is the worst thing you can do. In order for a child up to one and a half to two years old to perceive the language (it does not matter, the first or second), he needs live interaction. That is, you need to talk to him regularly (this can be done by you, a nanny or a visiting teacher), read books, comment on pictures.

Sounds difficult? In my opinion, it sounds good if parents want their child to speak a foreign language as well as in their native language. There is evidence that bilingualism contributes to overall mental development, by the way. Not too much, but there is such an effect too. Here probably need to remind everyone about Nabokov. I remind you.

If your goal is bilingualism, then you need to start as soon as possible and practice as often as possible. In studies of migrants in America, it was shown that only those who arrived in the country before the age of seven showed about the same level of English proficiency as adults as those who were born in America. One of the drawbacks of such studies is that they do not take into account the efforts that individual children and their parents put into language learning, because they took into account the results of all children from different age groups - both those who tried and those who were lazy.

This suggests that, in principle, the prospects of those who begin to learn a foreign language later are not so vague if they study according to a good method, with good teachers, and at the same time they themselves are smart and motivated enough. Simply put, parents can relax a little.

And that's great, because most parents I know want to get by with more modest efforts.

Late start of learning a foreign language

Everything, of course, is relative, but among scientists, the beginning of learning the first foreign language is generally considered a "late" start. in late adolescence or adulthood. Such students have a much higher chance of success in a short time than children of any age. But - oops! - much less likely to end up speaking a foreign language as a native speaker. Those who start learning a foreign language after the age of 15, as a rule, have poor pronunciation.

But in general, in general, if you do not have the opportunity to provide your child with a quality language education, but it is possible to provide only English in a regular kindergarten or elementary school, it is quite possible to wait until there is an opportunity to enroll in more effective classes.

In one Czech study, more than five hundred applicants taking English for admission to the department of linguistics were asked to understand - do those who started learning English earlier really do better in the exam? It turned out that the examination grade has nothing to do with the age at which the applicant began to learn English(and there were those who started learning English in kindergarten, and those who did not learn it until high school). The scientists themselves write that the reason is the low level of teaching foreign languages in ordinary Czech schools. I suppose that in ordinary Russian schools it is unlikely to be higher.

Where is the golden mean?

It all depends on what goals you set for yourself.

3-5 years

This option is suitable for you if you travel frequently, communicate with people who speak a foreign language, or are thinking about moving to another country. At this age, the parents (or nanny) of the child should be directly involved in his education.

You should not expect quick results from a child - at this age, the language is forgotten very quickly, and you will most likely need to re-learn it with the same words
Practice more often, let it be 5-15 minutes a day, but "classes" should take place 5-6 times a week
"Classes" should have elements of the immersion method: daily everyday dialogues in a foreign language, understandable for a child, cartoons, at least partially understandable for a child (at this age - yes to educational cartoons!), Very simple books in a foreign language for children 1-3 years, etc.
Keep in mind that the child is already oriented in his native language - explanations in Russian will speed up the process of mastering a still unfamiliar language
At this age, group classes are also possible, not necessarily only in a foreign language - in some cases it is better if the teacher speaks Russian

6-9 years old

This is the age when the language can already be learned "in an adult way". At first, the progress will not be stunning either (although certainly more credible than three-year-olds). Given the high quality of teaching, the child has every chance to learn a foreign language at a very high level. At this age, it is still good to start learning a foreign language if the parents do not speak it well and cannot qualitatively supplement classes in the classroom with activities in life.

The regularity of classes is no longer so important - they write that to achieve results, it is enough to practice 75 minutes a week, distributing them into three lessons - just like adults
At this age, children will be given elementary knowledge of grammar (in an accessible language, but still)
A godsend for parents - cartoons in a foreign language, to which you can print subtitles so that the child can read them (he does not have to understand EVERYTHING right here)
In the same piggy bank - a variety of applications for the iPad "a, which assume the child's ability to read

10-14 years old

Few people can learn a foreign language well without group lessons - at least 2-3 times a week!
At this age, wow! - children can use adult aids that imitate the immersion method, such as, for example, ingenious, from my point of view, Rosetta Stone
Songs, songs, songs - at this age, love for music can be great to stimulate language learning, you just need to translate and learn the lyrics of your favorite songs: it's much easier to learn the basic grammatical and lexical structures without cramming
And finally, do not forget about the summer camp for children to learn foreign languages

What did I choose for my daughter

I started working with her when she was 3.5 years old.

Why not earlier:

before Zoya was three, I relied more on her own pace, did not want to interfere with the natural course of development
I like it when she understands that she has learned something, and not just learning
she started talking a little later than her peers, so I wanted to wait for the moment when it would be clear that she speaks Russian at the level of her age.

Why not later:

I am incredibly serious about learning foreign languages, so in this matter I wanted to start as soon as I understand that my daughter is ready
My daughter gets very upset when something doesn't work out for her. It can easily stop doing something at all if it didn’t work out once. Therefore, it is important for me that by the time the language becomes a school subject, she does better than other children. Then she would rather be willing to do it.
this is such a cute cabal of ours with her, a tradition. We go to kindergarten, greet cats, count them, name their colors, remember some other words, appropriate situations. To be honest, this is more interesting to me than hearing about the same gray cats in Russian.
we are travelling. Children really like it when they are understood, so those 10-50 words with which they can at least explain something to people who do not speak Russian turn out to be such a source of joy in the mouth of the child, that in general, so what, what for for him to remember them, he had to patiently enter them for several months.

As you can see, my set of reasons to start when we started is completely subactive. The only thing that seems indisputable to me is that sooner or later, you need to learn foreign languages. And what are your reasons to start or not to start teaching foreign languages with your children?

*Pictures by Nina Twin and also by someone who tried very hard to understand the geography of Antiterra.

When a child is born in the family, parents immediately begin to make plans for his future. In their dreams, the baby will grow up to be an outstanding person, but for this he needs to be given a better education ..

Many are ready to start immediately: learn to swim, draw, dance, read, write and speak a foreign language. Of course, in our time without English, German or French - nowhere. However, is the child ready to perceive someone else's speech, not yet knowing his own? Perhaps it's better to wait?

Not so long ago, English began to be studied from the fifth grade, that is, from the age of 11. Now same - with the first class. And parents are happy to pay extra for English or French classes even when the child attends kindergarten.

At what age should a child learn English?

- Modern researchers have come to the conclusion that learning English at an early and preschool age is not only possible, but also necessary. Children who from childhood began to learn a language unfamiliar to them, in the future develop better and perceive information, learn the material faster. And later, in school years, it is easier for them to study, and they show better results. And not only in learning languages, but also in communication. Such children are better socialized, easier to operate with mathematical concepts, even better at drawing and the like. According to classical teachers, two years of teaching a child a foreign language at preschool age gives a better result than seven years of studying it in school years. Therefore, it can be argued that mastering the basics of a foreign language in the preschool period is useful.

The biggest debate is about at what age to start teaching a child another language or languages?

There are several opinions on this, but the main ones are two polar theories. According to the first, it is possible to start learning English only when the child has more or less mastered his native language. That is, she does not just speak, but fully understands and thinks in her native language, she has practically no errors in pronunciation. If we talk about age, then it is about 5 years.

According to another theory, the sooner you start English classes, the better the results will be. Early learning a foreign language will even prevent the occurrence of an accent in pronunciation. I belong to the specialists who share precisely this idea, since practice confirms this.

Does this mean that the child is already too loaded from an early age?

In no case. If you approach the classes correctly (through the game, give the baby interesting tasks), then there will be no overload. On the contrary, the child will grow up with a greater thirst for knowledge. She will want to know, see and know. Therefore, the sooner you have the opportunity to start getting acquainted with a foreign language, the better. It is possible from the age of six months.

What might such activities look like?

It is advisable to simply introduce a foreign language into the life of a child and make it interesting. For example, include children's songs in a foreign language, special educational programs for children, cartoons, and the like. You will see that the children will be interested, so they will hear something new. And it does not matter that at first she does not understand anything. The main thing is that the child will hear and perceive a foreign language. In addition, the mother can speak to the child in a foreign language the name of toys and surrounding objects, give commands in English or another language: “come”, “bring ...”, “draw ...”, “give me a thing of a certain color”. If a child hears a foreign language from an early age, he will subconsciously get used to the idea that this is part of life, and not something that needs to be learned and remembered.

Parents, perhaps, would like to try, there is a fear that there will be a mess of native and foreign words in the child's head.

Yes, it just seems. In fact, children are very smart and cunning. In childhood, they primarily use words that are easier (in short, with which there are no problems with pronunciation) or those that immediately come to mind. This is the easiest way. It happens that the child just liked a certain command or word. This creates the illusion that the child has only them settled in the head. In fact, at the physiological level in the head of babies, each language fits into a separate “box”. And when the accumulation of words and experience occurs, when the child is more conscious of communication, then she can already consciously open one or another “box”.

Thus, in reality, words from different languages do not mix. However, it is important for parents to reinforce the skills to use them. It can be, for example, a person in the family who communicates with the child in a certain language. Then the child distinguishes for himself: with my father or grandmother, I speak, say, in English, and with my mother - in Ukrainian. This will help put restrictions between languages. The child will quickly stop mixing words from different languages.

How many languages can be offered to a child at the same time?

- If one of the parents speaks, say, English (that is, they have the opportunity to communicate regularly in this language with the child), and the grandfather speaks German at a sufficient level (and wants to study with the child in such a way that she would be interested ), then there may be two foreign languages, in addition to the native one. If there is a grandmother who speaks Russian and regularly comes to the kids, then let there be a fourth. This will be a natural communication situation for the child. However, if parents want their son or daughter to learn three languages and hire three teachers for this, then there will be no sense. Actually, this option threatens the child with overload and loss of interest in the new language in general, because there cannot be several artificial language environments. In addition, you need to study with teachers for a certain time and complete assignments.

What advice would you give to parents who want their child to learn one or more foreign languages?

The main thing is to let the child feel like a winner. Set tasks that allow him to overpower himself a little, to do a little more difficult work than she usually does. Then the child will have a lot of positive emotions and, accordingly, will gladly accept any next task. Do not forget that all tasks should be in the form of a game, the game is the key to success.

It is necessary to surround the child with English words more. For example, offer food, put a bear cub to sleep, show a flower, count clouds, and the like. It is important that the child constantly hears foreign words, then later for her a foreign language will not be a subject of learning, but will become a means of communication.

There is an opinion that young children can easily learn foreign languages. Moms and dads with ambitious plans for the future of their children are looking for good courses in developing schools. Most often they choose English as the most common language for international communication. But another equally important question arises: “At what age should I start training?”

Different points of view of parents on the age aspect

From one year to three

Many parents are inclined to believe that this good occupation can be carried away from the age of one, well, in extreme cases, from the age of three. Due to the physiological development at this stage, the brain of babies is most receptive to language perception and easily absorbs any information.

7 years

The other half of mothers and fathers prefer to give the child the opportunity to determine which language he wants to learn and for what purpose. Only after that they offer to start training. This is approximately the age of seven years. It is possible that a son or daughter will show interest in English later.

Age does not matter

The most prudent guardians are sure that the most important thing is to find a future use of the learned language. Therefore, age does not make a fundamental difference.

The opinion of teachers and psychologists

Teachers believe that a young child easily absorbs new information and reproduces it with incredible accuracy. He easily learns to pronounce non-native sounds and words, quickly memorizes expressions.

But if, after graduating from English courses, the kid does not use the language, then after a couple of months, not even half of his knowledge will remain.

Parents must create the necessary language environment (speak English with the child), maintain and develop the acquired knowledge.

There are some nuances in teaching children under three years old. The information that seven-year-olds learn in two lessons, their younger brothers will learn in four. English for young children should be simple, fun, playful. Early learning should be a preparatory stage for effective language acquisition at an older age. Much will be familiar by then, which will make it easier to learn English.

English courses for children

The opinion that the English language is learned for many years is erroneous. Because of this, by the way, many parents tend to start training as early as possible. Modern methods allow you to learn a non-native language in a year and a half.

For little kids

In English courses for children, special programs are developed that take into account their age. For younger students, everything is done in a playful way. It is here that the necessary language environment is created, where from greeting to farewell to the teacher, everything is pronounced in a foreign language.

For easy perception, didactic material is used in the form of pictures, figures, songs, etc. If your kid said that he wants to learn English, and you were skeptical about this, then take the opportunity to attend a trial lesson. This option is available on many foreign courses. However, it is necessary to sign up for classes in advance. This approach will allow the child to demonstrate how interesting and exciting the training is, and mom or dad will be able to see how the baby behaves in class. By the way, after the first lesson he will be able to say something in English.

For teenagers

For teenagers at the age of fourteen, there are special programs for studying a foreign language in the applied field as an alternative to a second foreign language.

Summing up

English courses will allow a toddler, preschooler or schoolchild to easily learn to speak, read, write and understand speech in just one year. And this base in terms of volume will not be inferior to many years of schooling. From the first lesson, language courses will orient the child to the fact that by responsibly completing tasks and carefully perceiving the material received, he will easily master the language.

The success of teaching a foreign language is determined by many factors - the innate abilities of the child, his interest in the subject, the skill of the teacher. An important role is played by the timely acquaintance of the baby with a new language for him. Disputes about the optimal age for learning a foreign language have been going on for quite a long time. There are three main approaches - progressive (the sooner - the better), methodically verified (5-6 years) and conscious (the decision to learn a foreign language should be a conscious choice of the child). Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Foreign language from the cradle

The theory of early learning is based on the imitative behavior of children. Even without understanding the meaning of the proposed language units and structures, the baby will unconsciously repeat them, then remember and associate with certain objects and actions. Supporters of such a progressive approach consider it possible to get acquainted with a foreign speech already at the age of one. It should be recognized that the first results of early learning can be simply amazing - due to the minimal workload of the baby's memory, he easily remembers words and even whole sentences. Hearing the first foreign babble of the baby, parents, as a rule, fall into insane delight - but you should not delude yourself. It is necessary to be aware that at this stage, the memorization of language structures is unconscious, and their reproduction is often unconscious and automatic. In addition, the knowledge gained will be fragile if the child is not given the opportunity to put it into practice. To create the environment necessary for immersion in the language, you will have to hire a governess, send the child to a specialized kindergarten, or periodically arrange family evenings of communication in a foreign language. Otherwise, the knowledge gained in periodic (2-3 times a week) classes will disappear as quickly as it appeared.

The process of teaching a foreign language to a child under four years of age must certainly be continuous. Parents who decide to experiment with early learning should definitely ask the teacher for the material studied in the classroom and work it out with the child at home (absolutely any interested parent is able to master the minimum language knowledge necessary for the baby). Stock up on audio recordings and educational cartoons for children. Listening to an English song or rhyme can be a separate activity - in this case, the audio material must be supported by visual images, demonstration of pictures or toys. It is also good to include songs in a foreign language as a background for the child's daily activities and games. Do not demand good perseverance from the baby - the duration of a foreign language lesson with a child under 4 years old should not exceed 20 minutes, and for a 1-2 year old, even a 10-minute concentrated lesson will be a great achievement. As soon as the kid starts to lose interest, stop the lesson. And remember that at such an early age, learning a foreign language is more an acquaintance with the subject than its conscious study.

Too early immersion in a foreign language can pose a certain danger to the emerging speech of the baby - the child can confuse similar sounds of the native and foreign languages (for example, pronounce the Russian sound "k" with aspiration characteristic of English phonetics).

sensitive period

The time most favorable for the assimilation of certain knowledge is called the sensitive period. Psychologists and teachers consider the period from 4 to 6 years to be the most favorable age for a child to get acquainted with a foreign language. By the age of four, most children already have an understanding of the structure of their native language, pronounce all sounds correctly. They can concentrate for 30-40 minutes. The optimal number of classes during this period is 2-3 times a week. However, it is not necessary and does not make sense to expect a deep understanding of the language from the child, the maximum result of learning at this stage can be recognition by ear of the simplest lexical units and grammatical structures, a reaction to them, as well as mastering the elementary formulas of everyday communication (greeting, acquaintance, some information About Me).

A preschooler can get basic knowledge of a foreign language only if the material is presented correctly. That is why the choice of a teacher or a developing studio should be approached very carefully. The leading type of activity for children 4-6 years old is still a game, so classes should be built in a relaxed game form. The very attempt to explain to a kid of this age any rules and grammatical laws can be considered a manifestation of unprofessionalism, especially if this is done on the fingers or with the help of diagrams. Acquaintance with the alphabet is also desirable to postpone until the first grade. Teaching young children is unthinkable without the use of bright and colorful visual supports - pictures and toys, so do not hesitate to ask if the teacher (development school) has such materials. The mobile games of kids and their movement around the classroom in foreign language classes may seem strange to some parents, but meanwhile this approach is very productive - being mostly kinesthetic, young children perceive information well through movement, touch and even smell. Another sensitive and extremely finely tuned analyzer is children's hearing, and in order not to spoil this wonderful learning mechanism, the teacher's pronunciation must be impeccable. Correcting incorrectly delivered sounds of foreign speech can be much more difficult than mastering new ones.

Conscious choice

Everyone knows the truth says that it is never too late to learn. It is she who is followed by parents who are not in a hurry to acquaint their child with a foreign language. Their main argument is the conscious desire of the child to learn a new language for him, which contributes to a more successful mastery of the material. To help the "late realized" - all kinds of intensive courses that use the technique of immersion in foreign speech. According to students, such classes can be very effective, and in a year or two the child will communicate tolerably in the language being studied at the everyday level. The only danger is the inconstancy of children's interest in the absence of understanding of the "importance of knowing a foreign language in modern society." But you can change this by explaining to the child that if he knows the language, he will be able to go to other countries, or to a university, and therefore his life will be interesting and eventful - because he will be able to communicate with people from different countries and see the world.