Young children learning English should not rush the process

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This post was last edited by Thank goodness you're here on 2016-5-25 at 13:48. As people entered the 21st century, they began to consider integrating with the international community and engaging with the world. Adults are starting to work hard to learn English. Parents eagerly hope that their children can also learn English well at an early age and go out into the world. At what age should young children start learning English? It is generally better to begin teaching them English after they have a good grasp of their mother tongue. That is 2. Starting at 3 years old. But if the child grows up in a bilingual environment at home, where both Chinese and English are spoken, then learning the two languages can proceed simultaneously. 　　What should be taken into account when young children learn English? Learning English for young children is different from that for adults; it’s not necessary to force them to memorize things by rote. The process of teaching young children English should not start with learning letters or memorizing words, but rather by arousing their interest in learning English and creating a favorable language environment. The goal is to develop in them the basic language skills needed for communicating in everyday situations. Usually, it’s important to first allow children to accumulate plenty of listening experience, and only after they can understand what they hear should their oral expression skills be developed. Children often go through a period of silent absorption, so parents should not rush them by asking them to “speak quickly,” “read this word,” or “learn to write letters” right away. Instead, they should allow children to naturally accumulate the vocabulary they hear, through the use of senses such as sight, hearing, and speech. Steps are expressed verbally. . Therefore, when teaching English to young children, we can use the following effective methods: Start with some simple and easy-to-understand words. That is, an adult gives instructions in English, and the child performs corresponding physical actions based on those instructions. Through repeated practice of this \"instruction–action\" pattern, the child will naturally come to understand and learn how to express themselves. For example, if an adult says in English, \"eye, ear, nose\" or \"Shake your head (No), nod your head (Yes)…\", the child can use actions to respond to these instructions. By repeating this process, the child will gradually learn to express themselves in English. Learning English words through natural movements and activities holds great interest for young children. Moreover, participating in the actions helps young children better understand the meaning of words. The game-based English training method combines children’s learning of English with everyday gaming activities. Adults use simple English along with gestures to guide the children in playing games; they can employ a variety of gestures, actions, and pictures to help children understand the purpose, requirements, and methods of the activities, thereby encouraging them to learn to communicate in English. In these games, children are only required to respond to requests and instructions given in English. 　　(3) Various auxiliary forms such as songs, ballads, nursery rhymes, and cartoons can be utilized, taking into account the intuitive and concrete nature of young children’s thinking. Parents can use these different forms to help children learn English. Songs with a catchy rhythm are easier for children to accept. Is it necessary to learn English abroad? If one has poor listening skills, is it essential to start with slow-speed English? Does one have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to improve their spoken English? In the field of English learning, there are many lies that hinder our progress, preventing us from making breakthroughs in our English skills. Next, this article uses the personal experiences of renowned English teaching expert Teacher Aaron to expose these lies. To learn English, an external linguistic environment is essential – almost everyone speaks it. If you are sent abroad, you can learn a foreign language well in less than half a year. I do have some personal opinions on this. The external linguistic environment is certainly important, but if there is no personal foundation at all, it is purely a waste. 　　One example is that when looking at advertisements in newspapers for studying abroad, many of them specify that a high school diploma is required as a minimum. Why? Because at this stage, in China, by the time one reaches high school, one has been exposed to English for at least 6 years and already has a foundation. Another negative example is a classmate of mine who accidentally considered studying in Germany. As he had no foundation at all, he was sent to Germany; after two years, he still hadn’t managed to learn German and was continuing to struggle. He had to rely on his parents sending him money every month just to survive. Ugh! Solution: Although a good external language environment is beneficial, it’s not a panacea. A certain foundation is still required, and this foundation is essentially the internal linguistic environment, which can be created on one’s own. Using listening tapes, memorizing articles, reciting lines, or singing along to records are all effective methods; what matters is to persist for a period of time, such as 2 years. Learning English must be a process that progresses from the inside out, from the internal environment to the external one; it’s similar to how children first master some basic expressions at home before they can engage in social communication. 　　Does one have to progress from slow to medium to fast speeds when learning a foreign language by lying? Often, we create trouble for ourselves by first listening to slow-speed English, then medium-speed English, and finally fast-speed English. It is believed that this makes it easier for the brain to accept. But in reality, us kids have never heard our parents speak at a slow pace, a moderate pace, or a fast pace. ““Have you eaten yet?” “Have you washed your hands?” Is that possible? Yet, we can also accept a normal speaking pace from parents, just as it helps us learn English well. In fact, it’s not just Chinese people who do this; when foreigners speak to you, they will also deliberately slow down their speech, but not to such an extent that it goes beyond their usual speaking pace. The solution is to start with listening practice at a normal speaking speed, so as to acclimate one’s ears, aiming for high standards and good results. Thirdly: Is a high level of investment necessary to learn English? Many parents and children complain that their poor English skills are due to insufficient effort. For example, there are no electronic dictionaries, no authentic Longman dictionaries. Or there’s no money for expensive training courses. 　　Excuses! They’re all excuses! All malicious excuses! In fact, learning English is a lifelong skill for an individual; only by knowing English can one truly possess the whole world. Otherwise, even that world remains just an empty phrase. If you can’t speak Mandarin well, it’s difficult to travel around China, let alone across the globe. Solution: Adopt the right attitude – learning English well is a personal responsibility. **The reason for placing such emphasis on English is also that we were isolated from the outside world for too long in the past, and it was extremely painful to suffer from backwardness and being attacked. Therefore, it is also necessary for every Chinese person to master English, so as to be able to reach a level that allows them to communicate with people abroad at any time. To put it simply, all the non-specialized English education in primary schools, middle schools, and even universities today is like sowing seeds; they will only germinate when the conditions are right. So don’t complain that **they can’t turn you into a ‘finished product’**. If you go the extra mile for yourself, it’s possible to move from a “rough draft” to a “finished product”. 　　Today I memorized 20 words and felt incredibly proud, but I forgot them by the next day. I set a goal to practice listening for 10 minutes every day, but found that 5 minutes was already my limit; I started to daydream after just 3 minutes. I wanted to push myself by saying a few sentences in the English I had just learned to build confidence, only to realize that my grammar was poor and full of mistakes. The pronunciation always sounds strange; I really doubt whether what I’m saying is actually English!... All of these symptoms are something that those with poor English skills can certainly relate to. As people with no foundation in English, we’re eager to improve our skills, but if we act like flies without a direction, learning a little here and listening to a little there, we’ll never be able to truly improve our English. Tall buildings are built from the ground up; to help those with no foundation in English, the most important thing is to start from the basics and learn English in a systematic manner. 　　Many people don’t pay much attention to phonetic symbols; they think that as long as they know how to pronounce a word, they can simply imitate it, so why bother learning those complicated phonetic symbols? Doesn’t that just add to the burden of learning English? Actually, it’s not the case. English phonetic symbols are similar to the pinyin letters in Chinese. Remember when we first started learning Chinese characters, we also learned pinyin, and those who mastered pinyin well generally had a stronger ability to grasp Chinese characters. The same principle applies to English as well. First and foremost, phonetic symbols are the foundation of words; by mastering them, one can pronounce words correctly. Relying solely on imitation to learn word pronunciation often leads to inaccuracies. Secondly, learning phonetics can help with memorizing words. Rote memorization of words is by no means a sustainable approach; over time it only diminishes interest in learning English. If one learns phonetics, they can identify the patterns between pronunciation and letter spelling, which helps to improve the efficiency of memorizing words. Therefore, learning phonetic symbols is very important! Yet it is overlooked by many people. 　　There are two types of English pronunciation: American and British. The American version features more retroflex sounds, while the pronunciation we learn in textbooks at school is mainly British. When it comes to choosing a pronunciation style, it’s up to personal preference – there is no right or wrong choice. Learning phonetics, for students with no prior knowledge, is very difficult to pursue on one’s own; it is therefore essential to have a professional teacher to guide the learning process. On Hujiang Online School, there are two courses for learning phonetics systematically: the >>American Phonetics Classes available for immediate enrollment, and the >>British Phonetics Classes available for immediate enrollment. The prices are reasonable, and professional teachers are available to help correct pronunciation and answer questions; thanks to their excellent value for money, these courses are very popular among students with no prior knowledge.