How And When To Learn A Foreign Language For Adults And Children - Image

Nowadays, a foreign language is in demand and honorable: we fly to rest abroad, correspond with foreigners, work in international companies. Moms and dads are racking their brains over when their little genius will begin to master foreign speech. How to psychologically correctly build a learning system for children and adults of different ages?

From birth to three years

In the first year of life, the main occupation of the baby is emotional communication with adults. From about one to three years, substantive activity becomes the leading one. The child actively explores the world by all available means, replenishing his passive and active vocabulary. By the age of two, many children speak their native language tolerably.

Pros:

• It is this period that is most favorable for the development of speech.
• Classes contribute to overall mental development.
• You can raise a true bilingual.

Minuses:

• At first, the results of your work are almost invisible.
• Learning several languages at the same time slows down the assimilation of the native one.
• If you give up regular repetition, the child will very quickly forget what he has learned.

There are two options for learning a language in early childhood:

1. Immersion

If one of the parents constantly speaks a foreign language, the baby has a foreign language nanny, you live in another country, no special classes are required. The child learns to speak directly in the process of communication. As a rule, bilingual children master both languages by the age of three.

2. Game

You practice at home in a playful way and do not expect your child to speak Chinese fluently in six months. This is not a lesson, but 10-15 minutes of watching pictures of animals, vegetables, flowers, listening to songs, rhymes, counting rhymes, watching cartoons. Classes should be conducted daily, without coercion and be purely enjoyable. Little fidgets will like to learn verbs in action: lie down with closed eyes on the command "sleep", jump on the command "jump" and so on.

Your interest, good mood and praise will help inspire your baby. It's so nice to play with your parents. There is no need to motivate a bilingual, for him these are two native languages.

Three to five years

At this age, play becomes the leading type of activity. The native speech is mastered, the ability to concentrate has increased, the circle of friends has expanded. Children are no longer just drawn to communication - they want to please others. Interest in letters and numbers appears.

Pros:

• Together with the child, his ability to concentrate grows, it becomes easier for him to understand the tasks and instructions of an adult.
• In the preschool age, language perception is still very strong.

Minuses:

• A school is not far off, in which the child may be bored. We can only hope for the understanding and individual approach of the teacher.
• If the teacher is a dry theorist, there is a high probability that interest in comprehending a foreign language will disappear.

At this age, a group form of education is preferable (three to five children). At home, interactive toys, flashcards and a magnetic alphabet will help you. Do 15-20 minutes a day, forget about grades and credits. If you know native speakers, meet them so your child has someone to talk to.

Enter everyday phrases in a foreign language into your speech, show cartoons and programs in it. Do not force, do not scold for incorrect answers!

Praise, pleasure from the training process and the time spent together remain as motivation.

Six to eleven years old

This is the most favorable period for the development of memory, logic, thinking. The child is ripe for classes.

Pros:

• Good concentration skills.
• Large selection of teaching materials.

Minuses:

• The school curriculum takes a lot of time and effort.
• An uninteresting presentation of the language at school can also alienate you from extracurricular activities.

If you started learning the language earlier, you can master the basics of grammar, expand the vocabulary, and increase the duration of the lesson. As before, you should keep your activities fun and engaging.

Connect educational computer games. Study with your child to help him. The form and presentation must correspond to the level of knowledge and ability. If the program is too difficult, it causes hostility, a desire to quit, and it hurts self-esteem. Too simple tasks cause boredom.

At this age, the child is spurred on "bonuses" for hard work. Reward the effort, not the result.

11 to 17 years old

In adolescents, communication with peers becomes the leading type of activity. Gradually comes an understanding of what they want from life and in what way this can be achieved.

Pros:

• Towards the end of school, teenagers begin to think about their future profession and learn more consciously.
• The field for practice is expanding. There is an opportunity to continue your studies in another country, travel to a language camp, etc.

Minuses:

Heavy workload in high school, voluminous homework and exam preparation leave no energy for extracurricular work

It's time for a deeper and more serious acquaintance with grammar. But this does not mean that classes should turn into cramming.

Young people love to listen to music and watch movies. Try to get interested in translating songs, let them memorize what you really like. Offer to watch films and series in the original (better with subtitles). Books with funny stories will be to your taste, and after reading you can translate cases from your own life.

The main inner motive in adolescence is preparation for exams, the desire to travel freely and make friends around the world. Try to arrange a foreign vacation and be sure to mention this at the beginning of the school year.

18 and older

From 18 to 35 years old, our ability to remember information is at its peak. Gradually, they begin to weaken, and after 40 years visual memory is in the lead. Consider this when choosing a method of learning a foreign language.

Pros:

The advantage of an adult is that he knows what he wants, can exert efforts on himself that are inaccessible to a child, and it is easier to concentrate on the subject

Minuses:

• Little time (workload, children and household chores).
• In adulthood, it is difficult to start speaking in a foreign language, because you do not want to look stupid. You will have to overcome embarrassment.

Spend 10-15 minutes studying daily. You can take courses or tutor a few times a week, but regular self-study is a must for quick success.

Write down and memorize the phrases that you need at home or at work and start using them in practice. Computer programs targeting visual memory will help you.

Make penpals, call them on Skype. Let it be someone with similar interests so that you always have something to discuss. Immerse yourself in the "whirlpool" with your head: films, TV series, music, books, magazines and communication, let them be in a foreign speech.

Learning a language in adulthood is associated with professional ambitions and personal needs. If you move to another country, it turns out to speak quite quickly, even if you have not experienced much success before. Again, motivation and daily practice play a decisive role.

Even if you are retired and not planning a cruise around the world, there is a good reason to study: knowledge of multiple languages has been proven to help preserve cognitive function after a stroke and slow the onset of dementia. Isn't there a reason to take up a French textbook?