Tips to Help Your Child Learn Another Language
Children need to hear and use a language to learn it well.
You can help by:
- Reading books and telling stories in your languages
- Going to events where your languages are spoken
- Singing songs, listening to music, and playing games in your languages
- Talking to your child in your languages, even if they like using another one (like the one at school or daycare)
Other ideas you can try:
- One person, one language – For example, one adult speaks Spanish, and another speaks English.
- One place, one language – For example, speak one language at home and another outside.
- One activity, one language – For example, speak Arabic at mealtime and English at bath time.
- What does “multilingual” mean?
Being multilingual means you can understand or speak more than one language.
- What is a first language?
A child’s first language is usually the one they hear most at home.
- What should I know about learning more than one language?
- Children learn a new language better when they know their first language well.
- It’s easier to learn new languages when kids are young.
- Children learn best when you speak the language you know best.
- What might happen if my child is learning more than one language?
- Children who learn more than one language might start talking a little later than kids who learn just one.
- It’s normal for children to:
- Use one language more than the other
- Mix words from different languages
- Make mistakes in the new language
- Is learning more than one language good for my child?
- Yes! Learning more than one language can help children:
- Get better at listening and talking
- Improve reading and writing
- Stay close to their family and culture
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