My young girl is already 3Yrs 6 mths old. Is she too late to start? Any recommendation? Miss E.
Nothing is absolute. Yes, it is easier to pick up languages in the first 6 months after birth. But your 3 year 6 months old girl has much more language cell synapses than a 6 year old. Many parents do not know that poor academic results often stem from a failure to master the language tool.
You can help your daughter to build up a strong language foundation,
1. Arouse an interest in languages. Let her enjoy the process of learning. Give her encouragement when she faces difficulties. Give her recognition when she makes her efforts.
2. Create a language environment and enables her to meet native speakers on a regular basis. Send your child a nearby Le Beaumont Language Centre. A baby can join all the 5 language groups from Monday to Friday. A 3-year old girl can start with English and Putonghua playgroup. When she has settled in, add one more language playgroup. If she is really keen, add one more while she still has the time. By the time she goes to primary school, she probably has only time for 3 languages.
3. Playgroup is an extremely effective tool in developing the listening and spoken skills of a child, and in deciphering the sentence structures and language patterns which we normally call grammar.
4. Help your child build up a strong verbal language skill before reading and written skills, not vice versa.
5. If you want your child to be strong in English, let her pick up one more European language. This will increase her sensitivity and a better understanding of language structures and patterns. Sam
2 則留言:
what is your opinion on some western study saying that child should learn languages other than mother language after the age of three, otherwise they will have the chance of confusing, and they can't distingusih the words are in english or in chinese.
And some even say that, if they get confused, they just don't want to speak, because they cannot sure if they can speak correctly.And babies in this age like to be praised rather than feeling the failure.
The confusion theory dates back to the 1950s, from an American psychology professor. America was a monolingual country. Now we know that there are multilingual countries like Singapore, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries. Their children are not confused. They are more gifted in languages. So are children born in bilingual families.
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