For most adults, learning a second language isn’t always a quick and easy process, but for children it comes more organically.
‘I hated learning languages; I didn’t understand why I needed to know how to buy a piece of bread in French,’ says Johnny Chandler, whose four-year-old son, Sterling is currently learning Spanish and has taken to it like a duck to water. ‘It seemed a lot of hard work and I kept getting detentions for doing poorly in tests.’
While you may have had demoralising experiences at school when it came to learning languages, this shouldn’t put you off when it comes to equipping your own child with the opportunities to acquire a second tongue. As the world is getting smaller it is becoming more important than ever to broaden our ability to communicate on a global scale. According to CILT, the National Centre for Languages, children are in a privileged position to acquire this ability.
Teresa Tinsley from CILT says, ‘Young children are highly motivated and eager to learn, and will develop transferable skills which make it easier for them to pick up other languages later on. Learning a language also helps their understanding of other cultures and improves their literacy levels in their first language.’
Despite their own experiences of languages, Johnny and his partner Ingrid were keen to get Sterling off to an early start. They were lucky enough to strike up a relationship with modern language book publishers BSmall, who now keep track of Sterling’s progress through a regular blog on their website written by Johnny. To the couple, trying out one of the BSmall books was an affordable way to test the water without committing to an entire course of DVDs or books, which can sometimes be very expensive and unsuitable for the child in question.
‘At his fourth birthday party a friend of ours mentioned these books and asked if that’s something we’d be interested in, and she specifically said Spanish which is what we’d been talking about,’ says Johnny, ‘We weren’t sure how it would go but I think we’ve both been really impressed with how he’s responded to it.’
Although Sterling is clearly a very bright child, Johnny was careful to point out that the interactive style of teaching that the books allow parents is really what brings the subject alive for the children, with the added bonus of providing some quality family time.
‘Initially we started using it like “Here’s a list of things, read them out”, then Cass at the publishers said “Don’t forgot to try the games”,’ says Johnny. ‘Suddenly instead of just learning the numbers off the page we would play snap with the numbers, and the difference now is we’re enjoying it and it’s a fun thing to do in the morning and it’s quality time with him. We were enjoying it at the start but now it’s become a real laugh.’
Dr Christina Sousa is managing director of the Regional Language Network for the North-West, who help to improve business in the area through language skills and cultural development. She believes that Sterling’s early exposure to foreign languages will put him in good stead for the future.
‘Although it’s very early to start pre-empting what he will do in his future career, the fact he’s learning a second language means he’s opening up a host of opportunities in both his personal and future working life. In this day and age, a second language is an imperative skill for success in international business.’
She also commented on his age being an advantage during language learning, as she explains, ‘Because language learning requires flexibility of thinking, [and] the fact that he hasn’t reached the age of consciousness means he’s not afraid of making mistakes. Where adults are apprehensive of saying things in case they are pronounced or phrased wrongly, children will just get on with it and if they’re corrected they’ll repeat and learn.’
Johnny was willing to admit that reservations over his own capabilities regarding languages were a bit of a stumbling block. ‘I’m just a bit embarrassed that it took me so long to [use interactive methods] but then again I’m not because it’s a confidence thing and if I’m going to be totally honest I don’t think I was totally confident; I can’t speak French and all I’ve got is bad memories of some lessons I had 26 years ago,’ he explains.
However, the positive attitude exhibited by Johnny and Ingrid is now reaping its own rewards as Sterling is benefitting in more ways than one. ‘It’s definitely good with stuff like numbers and letters, because you’re doing the same thing you do in English, repeating the words. I think any kid probably benefits from spending time with their parents doing stuff,’ adds Johnny. ‘Coming up with solutions together will hopefully lay the foundations for the future so it’s not perhaps so orientated towards his mum because he’ll have that experience of both of us doing more with him.’
You can keep up with Sterling’s progress and find out about BSmall language learning resources at bsmall.co.uk
Other useful websites providing languages resources for kids include:
