The story of a mother who lost her child. Breaks are what you need

20.09.2019

In the modern world, the knowledge of one or more foreign languages is no longer an advantage, but a necessity. Most parents understand this well and wonder at what age it is better for a child to start learning a foreign language.

The sooner the better. Why?

Today, if a child is in a calm psychological state, lives in a loving family, experts recommend starting to learn a foreign language as early as possible for several reasons.

First, leading psychologists state that the duration of the sensitive period (that is, the most perceptually oriented) is from about 1.5 to 9 years. This is exactly the age when all the basic speech skills are formed in the child and his brain is most inclined to learn and perceive any languages. Later, the brain receptors responsible for the perception and development of speech weaken and become less flexible, which is why adults are much more difficult to learn new languages than children.

Secondly, many scientists notice the fact that learning a second language from an early age is an additional burden on the child's brain and makes it develop faster, and often even helps the child start talking faster. So, for example, it may be easier for him to pronounce the word doll, rather than doll.

Do not be afraid that your child will confuse languages. This, as a rule, is inevitable, because by learning a second language from birth, he will perceive it on a par with his native language and will include words that come to his mind faster or are easier to pronounce. This kind of confusion, as a rule, automatically disappears by the age of three, and the child already clearly understands the boundaries of languages and is explained in the one that is necessary in this situation. At an earlier age, he also distinguishes them, but clearly separates them in speech only when you ask him to.

Everything speaks in favor of the fact that the baby needs to be immersed in a foreign environment, starting from a year, and even earlier. Let him not speak yet, but he perceives sounds and words and already clearly associates them with objects. Later, he will begin to perceive a foreign language in the same way as his native one.

How can I help my child learn a language?

It is important to follow a few rules if you really want your child to know a foreign language like his own.

First, it is the regularity of the study. The child will not be able to learn the language if you study it with him from time to time. After all, you communicate in Russian every day, and every day the child learns something new. So it is with a foreign language. Teachers recommend conducting full-fledged classes with the child at least twice a week, as well as devoting 5-10 minutes at home daily to repeat the vocabulary learned.

Secondly, you should not expect from a child of two years old that he will learn and remember the main topics in one lesson. Toddlers need much more time to master the material than even children of 7 and 8 years old. Therefore, what a child of 8 years old will learn in one lesson, the baby needs to be laid out into three, or even four lessons. Therefore, if you send your baby to learn a language, be wary of those teachers who promise to learn your child in 6-7 months. This is a gradual process and requires the attention and time of both teachers and parents.

Thirdly, an integrated approach to teaching a foreign language is important. Of course, each parent can begin to engage with his baby himself, show him colors, shapes, pictures and call them in English. But in most cases, and for the best effect, it is worth turning to the help of professional teachers who will be able to choose the format of education according to the child's personality type and choose the most correct presentation of the material, based on world aids. And, of course, at an early age it is important that parents place all responsibility for teaching the child not only on the teacher, but also on themselves and repeat the material covered at home with the baby.

It is important to remember that if the baby has begun to learn a language, then it is not recommended to take long breaks in learning until the child's brain and his perception of information have entered a new phase. Until the age of 9-10, all the material covered is quickly forgotten without frequent reminders. In fact, it is much easier for kids to learn a language in practice than in theory, so do not be afraid and feel free to send your children to conquer new heights of knowledge.

We thank the children's development center in English VokiToki Club for help in writing the material

Daria Popova

Everyone who wondered when to start was sure to meet the answer of specialists - the sooner the better. However, many parents still doubt whether English is needed before school? Common myths and "confusion" of facts are used. Today we will take a closer look at why it is better to start English classes at an early age.

What are the pros and cons early learning of a foreign language?

Arguments "FOR" early teaching English to children

1. Hemispheric trap

The brain of a child is constantly growing and changing rapidly. At the beginning of a child's life, there is no strong difference in the activity of the right and left hemispheres. But the child begins to grow up, and the two halves begin to strictly distribute responsibilities, including those related to speech.

The left hemisphere is conscious and verbal. It is "the main thing" in speech. His responsibilities include:

storing the meaning of a word
logics
grammar
reading
letter

The right hemisphere is unconscious and creative. In speech, it is responsible for:

pronunciation
intonation
facial expressions
gestures
and most importantly - a linguistic guess

Thus, the right hemisphere is responsible for the unconscious understanding of the meaning of an unknown phrase from the context, "judging by what is happening."

Up to 7 years, the perception of speech by a child, including foreign speech, causes activity in both hemispheres of the brain, from 7 to 9 years, excitation in the right hemisphere fades, and from 10 years, foreign speech is recorded only in the left.

Thus, for a child who began to learn a foreign language at the age of 8, as our school suggests, it is not just difficult, but unnatural to the nature of the brain, the ability to easily distinguish foreign words, foreign intonations and linguistic guess, that is, understanding the main essence of what was said, even if you don't know the meaning of some words.

2. The opinion of the English coach

For me, the question is “When to start teaching English?” sounds exactly like “When should a child start exercising?”. The thing is that most parents perceive English as physics or chemistry, that is, a set of knowledge that needs to be understood and applied where necessary. In fact, English is not mathematics, it is physical education.

You can know a lot about the technique and strategy of playing basketball, but never learn how to play it. Learning English in a Russian school, as a rule, comes down to learning how to jump and run, but not jumping and running. Now think about how successfully your child will be able to master the ball game if you give him this sports item only at the age of 8?

Remember English is not taught. He is being trained. And the earlier the training starts, the more perfect the skill.

3. Smart barrier does not jump over. He does not create

The best way to overcome the language barrier is not to form it. In children who began to learn English at least at the age of 5, or even earlier, the language barrier is very rarely formed. First of all, this is due to the fact that from the very beginning they have experience of success in English. Language tasks are so simple that children can easily cope with them. Moreover, the younger the child, the less he feels the difference in success between native and foreign speech.

Kids don’t understand all the words in Russian either, so the situation when they don’t know the meaning of what was said, but guess - is natural, daily and does not present much stress.

The very same native speech of children is not yet replete with sophistication and complexity. And the first dialogues that children learn to build in English are, in essence, a foreign copy of their usual daily role-playing games of daughters-mothers, doctors or a store.

5. Transfusion from dictionary to dictionary

Usually for parents, the main result teaching English to children is how many words the child knows on it. In fact, it is much more important not how many words the child says (active vocabulary), but how much he understands in the speech of the interlocutor (passive vocabulary).

In an adult, as a rule, these dictionaries are almost the same. But in babies, a passive one is first formed (remember how long the child pronounces only a few words, but already understands almost everything that you say to him), and then the words from it pass into an active dictionary, that is, into speech. It’s the same with English - preschool children, when properly trained, form a huge passive vocabulary, which then saves a lot of time on learning new words (they just pour into active speech over time)

6 Sponge Memory

It is known that children absorb everything like sponges. But few people think that the sponge dries easily if you do not keep it constantly in water.

The child's memory is indeed capable of absorbing a huge layer of foreign language material, but only on condition that the baby is regularly immersed in the language environment (hears foreign speech, tries to speak it, understand what they are talking about).

Have you already guessed that with age, memory loses its sponginess?

7. Difficulties in translation when teaching English to children

An adult thinks in words. Children from 7 to 12 years old are mostly pictures or images, but verbal thinking is already gaining momentum. From 3 to 7 years old - children think in pictures, images.

When a preschool child encounters a foreign word, he first of all associates it not with a translation, as an adult does, but with a picture, a toy, an action, a property of an object, that is, something real. Thus, preschoolers do not have intermediary translators in the form of Russian words between English and reality (with the correct organization of classes, of course).

To be successful in English, you need to learn how to think in it, and not think in Russian, and then translate what happened into a foreign speech.

It is much easier for a child to learn to think in English than for an adult, because a child thinks like this:

Before school:

The child thinks "cat" = the child imagines a cat.
The child thinks "a cat" = the child imagines a cat.

From 7 years on the rise:

The child thinks "cat" = the child imagines a cat and remembers its properties (animal, 4 paws, loves mice, etc.)
The child thinks "a cat" = the child remembers that this translates as "cat" = perhaps then he will imagine a cat.

But to teach preschoolers to translate is a difficult task. For them, this is a double job: to remember what the word means, and then remember what it is called in Russian.

Arguments "AGAINST" early teaching English to children

However, despite the convincing arguments in favor of early learning a foreign language, the arguments “AGAINST” are no less convincing:

Children confuse languages. English interferes with the development of native speech.
Bilingualism creates such confusion in a child's head that it interferes with the development of his intellect.
Children confuse the letters of Russian and English. English interferes with learning to read Russian.
English is difficult. Children still do not understand grammar rules. Do not deprive the child of childhood.
For a speech therapy child (and there are a lot of these now, unfortunately), English interferes with the correct pronunciation.
There is little sense from English to school. Then, at school, everyone evens out anyway.
English needs to be learned “correctly”: from the cradle or with a native speaker (a person who was born and raised in an English-speaking country), and immerse yourself in English for several hours a day, then the child will master English like a native. And everything else is just “toys” before school.

Do you recognize your point of view at some point? Congratulations on debunking another misconception! All these arguments are based only on myths and "confusion" of facts. But about this -

More and more modern people willing to teach children foreign language. No one doubts the need for knowledge of a foreign language. It is considered especially fashionable today to learn English. The reason for this desire of parents is clear, because if earlier children who did not have the opportunity to go abroad did not particularly need to know a foreign language, the situation today has changed a lot. A child needs to know the language in order to watch films in English, communicate in English via Skype, and of course, in order to get a prestigious job in the future.

Without knowledge of a foreign language to kid it will be more difficult to adapt in a world in which it will probably soon be impossible to imagine without English not only a normal free existence, but also a holiday abroad. Given this and wanting to give their child something that will definitely come in handy in the future, many parents try to teach their baby English from birth. Well, if the parent himself can speak English fluently, then he has the opportunity to teach the baby English himself at no extra cost. For example, speaking or listening to music in English. But what about those parents who themselves cannot say anything in English. How and when should they start teaching their child English?

Many scientists believe that you need to start learning English before the age of 3. According to recent studies, it is by this age that the development of brain cells is completed by 70-80%. It turns out that if parents speak two languages with a child from birth, he will quickly speak two languages, if - three, then your future genius will know three languages. The period when the baby's brain is growing is the most productive period for the child's learning. As a result, scientists came to the conclusion that if a child is not taught a foreign language before the age of 9, then in the future the brain mechanisms of speech become less flexible and it is very difficult for a child to learn English.

Many parents they do not look very seriously at teaching their children English, believing that they themselves do not know English perfectly, so there is no need to strain the child. Like, they will teach you at school, but before that you should not think about teaching English. In fact, this behavior of parents indicates their unwillingness to engage in the development of their children. According to scientists, the giftedness of children from birth is an invention of parents who themselves do not want or do not know how to develop their children. Abilities and talents never appear on their own, they must be developed from the very birth of a child.

kids up to 3 years of age, they are ready to comprehend everything that they like. If the child does not like something, then he flatly refuses to do it. Therefore, a child of this age can learn English only by hiring a teacher who knows how to create a game situation and involve the child in it. Through the game, you can convey any knowledge to a small person. Today there are many methods of teaching English, and each teacher chooses his own way of learning. If your child attends kindergarten, the situation is easier. Indeed, in many children's institutions today they offer to teach a child English, in this case, parents should not think about it, you just need to choose those classes that will really be useful to your child.

In no case should you force a small child speak English, no matter where he learns English at home or in kindergarten. At this age, the child should accumulate vocabulary. It is necessary to teach a child English in an atmosphere of love and responsiveness.

The task of the parents of the baby is to instill up to 3 years age sense of language, and everything else can be developed later. At this age, it is necessary to develop the perception of English by a child, and for this, listen to music in English, watch cartoons, and so on. An ideal option for teaching English is if the parents themselves begin to learn English with their child at this time.

If the parents own two languages, then be sure to teach your child their native language from birth. Knowledge of the native language opens up new layers in the mind of the child and tremendously strengthens his mind. No English teacher can achieve this, except when you hire an English governess who takes care of the child around the clock.

When learning a foreign language, the child has to master someone else's speech. A at the age of 1-2 years also, the native one is not formed to the extent it should be. Yes, you can enroll your child in a foreign language circle. It will be fun for him to dance there to a new song, clap his hands while reading the alphabet and get to know the funny Teddy bear. But these exercises by themselves will not bring absolutely no effect. With the same success, a child can be taken to dances or gymnastics from an early age - the main thing is that it should be fun there.

At school age (6-8 years old) the moment when it is better to start learning English for a child has already been missed. Your child is in charge of learning. Doing homework, getting good grades, mastering material in various subjects, playing games and communicating with classmates - the child's brain is loaded with new information so much that a foreign language is no longer given its due place there.

And if the kid does not feel interest, love to learn English and, moreover, does not have the ability to master someone else's speech, all your arguments that English is now needed everywhere will not find a response in the soul of the student. At best, it is like extra classes in a language school and will slightly raise the level.

At what age is it better for children to learn English?

According to experts, the best age to start learning English is 3-5 years old.

At this age, almost all babies have developed speech. They absorb any new information like a sponge. At this age, their brain mechanisms develop their flexibility so much that mastering a foreign language is easier for a baby than it would be, for example, at 10-11 years old. In addition, a 3-6-year-old baby demonstrates a unique ability to memorize foreign words, although their reproduction is rather automatic and unconscious.

However, there is one contraindication for learning English at such an early age - speech defects. A child cannot be taught a foreign language if there are gross violations of sound pronunciation in his native speech, a poor vocabulary and confusion in the meanings of words. In other words, any speech therapy problems are a strict contraindication. First, solve them and only then begin to instill in your child the basics of foreign speech.

The ideal age from which you can teach English to a child without speech defects and a lag in the development of speech is from 4 to 6 years.

Flexible memory, special work of brain mechanisms - all this will help the little polyglot.

3 main rules for learning English for a child aged 3-6 years

If there are no physiological contraindications for learning a language, feel free to send your baby to a language school or study with him at home on your own. In both cases, however, 3 points should be taken into account.

Immersion in the language environment. Introducing a baby to a foreign language and culture at home is acceptable only if you manage to create a language environment in the house, speak English at a decent level, have good pronunciation and know how to use the game method in teaching. In bilingual families, the governess-native speaker becomes the main assistant in this matter. If it is impossible to create such conditions for the baby at home, it is better to start learning English with him in a language school or circle. After all, it is easier to train well right away than to retrain later. As practice shows, mistakes made at the very beginning of training are very difficult to correct in the future, and sometimes even impossible.
Experienced teachers. Teaching a child English at an early age is not an easy task. Only a teacher with experience in preschool preparation of children and knowledge of game methods can cope with it. That is why it is important to choose the right language school, get to know the teacher, his experience and even sit in class. Otherwise, little experience, excessive workload, incorrectly chosen methodology and other pedagogical errors are fraught with, at best, a child’s loss of interest in classes, and at worst, serious psychological problems. A child, not living up to the dreams of parents about a child prodigy-polyglot, can withdraw into himself, and low self-esteem will slow down his social development.
Dynamism. Teaching a child aged 3-6 years of English is necessary in a dynamic, interactive, playful way. During the lesson, different types of activities should alternate. In this case, interest in classes will not wane, and soon you will notice the crumbs' success in mastering a foreign language. Please note that at an early age, teaching a child English is more about getting to know the language than cramming grammar and vocabulary. The emphasis is on overall development.

Of course, no one forbids an older child to study English in depth in addition to the school curriculum. If you have the desire and ability, go for it. After all, the main thing is the personal motivation of the child.

So, we found out at what age it is most effective to teach a child English, and we will consider it in the next article.

Have you already thought about the fact that it's time for the baby to get acquainted with a foreign speech? At what age do you plan to teach your child a foreign language?

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 in 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.