How to motivate your child to learn English

Set an interesting goal

Perhaps, sooner or later, a child will have a question: why learn English at all? You should have the correct answer ready. Most parents will say: “to get an A”, “to enter Moscow State University”, “to be smart”. But a boy or girl, say, ten years old will not be convinced of the need for study. “Work” and “university” are abstract concepts for him, and adult life seems infinitely far away.

For successful learning, the goal must be very specific, important to the child and easily achievable. For example, read an anthology of Marvel superheroes, which can only be obtained in English, go through a non-Russian game, meet children from other countries on vacation, or go to a language camp in the summer.

Find the right teacher

The difficulty is that the “correct” teacher from the point of view of adults will not necessarily turn out to be “correct” for the child. We look at experience and regalia, and psychological comfort is important for children. It happens that parents find a strict “academician” and wonder why such a well-deserved teacher cannot teach their child anything.

But if a child shrinks internally at the sight of a stern mentor, it is not worth waiting for progress. Fear and antipathy towards the teacher will spread to the subject itself, and the child – consciously or not – will begin to sabotage learning, just to get rid of the teacher as soon as possible. Look for a teacher with whom your offspring will be interesting, fun and comfortable.

Don’t be afraid to change your method

Even if everyone on the Internet praises the X school or the tutor Igrek Igrekovich, trust not public opinion, but your own child. If group tasks or flashcards work with other children, they may not be effective with your child.

Be ready at any time to change the original plan, find other courses, a new teacher or method. Ask the child if he is interested in what he likes in learning and what seems boring, what he himself wants to achieve. Your task is to maintain interest, and not force you to study “through I can’t”.

Set an example

Children copy adults. Do not expect your child to be interested in learning if you yourself prefer to spend your evenings in front of the TV, do not know a single word of English and do not want to learn anything. You can say as much as you like that knowledge of languages ​​will be useful in life, but the child will still see that you live quite happily, making do with only Russian.

If you already know English, speak it as often as possible, demonstrate that it is really useful. If not, it’s time pull it up.

Do not scold for mistakes

This is how the language barrier is formed, due to which people who have studied English for seven years at school cannot support even the simplest conversation with a foreigner. Making mistakes, especially at the very beginning of the journey, is quite normal.

It is important that the “mistake-punishment” link is not formed, otherwise the child will simply be afraid to use the knowledge gained, expecting criticism or ridicule. It is much more effective to emphasize achievements – it is better to praise for one correctly pronounced word than to scold for a dozen mistakes.

Turn lessons into fun

Don’t rely on courses alone, maintain interest on your own. You can watch cartoons in English once a week, participate in quests, play games to improve your skills, read comics in English, go to meetings with foreigners in clubs of interest – for example, the American Center in Moscow. You know best what your child likes. The main thing is that all these activities should be fun.

stop controlling

It is important for a child to know that his parents trust him. Your task is to choose a teacher who will suit both the child and you, to encourage, support, motivate and praise. But total control will not accelerate the achievement of the goal, but will only create unnecessary tension. Let your child get involved in the process.