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Although your average school language lessons may be ok for teaching your child a certain amount of vocabularly and grammar, it isn't so good for producing a great conversationally fluent speaker. The better idea is to try and integrate your child by helping them make local bilingual friends, or watching foreign speaking TV or reading books. Parents can play a huge role in helping their kids to learn a new language, so here are just a few ideas: 1. Emigrate! 2. Watch foreign TV channels and read foreign books or magazines 3. Help them make bilingual friends 4. You do it too 5. Have fun and make it a challenge 6. Foreign exchange visits 7. Take your vacations in an area that speaks your childs target language 8. Hire a Nanny or Au Pair that speaks your childs target language 9. Buy CD-ROMs, books, videos, on-line courses, etc 10. Private tuition Packing up and leaving This may be a bit on the excessive side, but if it's always been your dream to live abroad, why not do it and improve your quality of life and your childs language skills at the same time. This is THE most effective way for a child to become truly fluent in a foreign tongue. Although it will be intimidating at first (and that's just for you!) a child will settle in and make friends very quickly and you will be astonished at how quickly the new language is absorbed. You can expect your child to be conversationally fluent within about 3 months. Reading and watching TV Try picking up foreign language programmes on your TV. A good idea to try and give your kids a gentle prod is to limit their normal TV viewing time to, say, 2 hours a day, but have no limit whatsoever on the foreign speaking channels. If you live in a cosmopolitan area, try the local newsagency for reading material that will suit your childs iinterests but it is in a foreign language. Now try and push them a little to learn and then to show off their new language skills and knowledge at school. Encourage your child to mix with bilingual kids Most main towns/cities in most countries are now multicultural, so you are fairly likely to have a number of different nationalities living close by. Teach your children that it is good to mix with, and learn from, other cultures, and encourage them to make new friends who don't speak English so well. It is astounding how quickly kids from different backgrounds will start to communicate. Many people go to a religious gathering each week. It's a great way to introduce both yourself and your child to a new community, and to make friends and begin to learn a new language. Try once a month to begin with, and then more often perhaps, when you feel a little more confident. Show them how it's done! Get your child off to a flying start by learning a new language yourself and include your child in your home studies. Let them know that learning other languages is a great gift in life, and give them all the encouragement possible. This will help them much more than just a couple of school lessons a week. Keep it fun and challenging Buy a cheap clock-radio and get your child to have a wake up call in a foreign language! Don't worry if the early morning banter doesn't accomplish much, but it may help your child to get into the music of a different culture. You'll be surprised at how many new words and phrases can be learned from the music alone. Have an I-pay-your-foreign-books-and-movies policy with your kids. There are many excellent movies that run in foreign languages in most big cities, and many foreign language bookshops as well. If you pay for those, you give your kids a strong incentive to practice the languages they learn. Foreign exchanges Most high schools/colleges support foreign exchanges. This works by you sending your child to the country of choice, to stay with a family for a number of weeks or months, whilst their child comes and stays with you. It only costs the price of the flight ticket as obviously accommodation is provided, and a little spending money. This way, there are two teenagers who will have a wonderful experience and learn to speak the new languages with great pronunciation. Vacation abroad Decide a few months in advance that you are going to book a holiday where the local language is the language that your child is learning. Tell your child that they will need to be your guide and be able to help the rest of the family whilst they are all away. Hopefully this will motivate them to learn as much as possible so that they can show off their skills when the family is all away together. Get a foreign Au Pair or Nanny Employ someone to look after your home or children, but who doesn't speak very much English. Whilst she communicates with your children, ask her to do so in her mother tongue. Your children will pick up new words and phrases whilst simply playing! Use books, CD-ROM's, videos, on-line courses, etc. Keep things interesting by mixing up childrens language courses in books, videos, on-line courses, etc. A new game on CD-ROM but in another language can always get'em going again! Private tuition As I have already said, language teaching in schools is mostly insufficient to really learn a language. If you have the necessary funds available, why don't you hire a private teacher who can teach one-to-one for a few hours a week? In many areas this is not too expensive and it's much more efficient than group learning.
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