While it would be great for your little one to pick up a new foreign language, you may be hesitant to add additional weight to their studies. But with these stress-free study tips from a professional, you can be rest assured that your child can learn a new language right at home.
theAsianparent spoke to Peggy Lim, the Academic Director of LingoAce, to understand how studying doesn’t have to be so stressful on our kids and how they can nurture a love for the language.
Stress-Free Tips On Learning A New Language
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According to the Chinese language educator, bilingualism has been scientifically proven to be beneficial for your child’s career and social-emotional advantages.
“It also ensures enhanced cognitive development, and helps a child’s comprehensive development. Learning a new language is one of the best ways to expose a child to new cultures, setting them up to become global citizens in the future,” Ms Lim tells theAsianparent.
But aside from just exposing your little one to a new language at an early age, Ms Lim explains that they should also be “set up with the right structure to support learning.”
She adds, “The Chinese language is a tonal one with thousands of special characters. In a traditional, passive learning environment, it is difficult to learn just by receiving instruction from a teacher alone with minimal interaction.”
How to get children interested in the language
1. Create an immersive environment to learn Chinese
“This means parents need to find ways for their kids to be part of two-way conversations, real-time intervention, and digital interactive content in an interdisciplinary setting that engages and inspires learners,” says Ms Lim.
She makes sure to include, “Instructional and passive learning is not always the most helpful method to learn a language.”
2. Nurture a genuine love and curiosity about the language
“We work with learners of different language proficiency levels and diverse cultural backgrounds,” shares Ms Lim.
She elaborates how it is very important to immerse learners in live conversations about things that are of interest to them. This could be through the use of media and storytelling techniques that nurture a love for the language and culture.
She also shares, “At LingoAce, we frequently tell interesting stories around new Chinese words to spark their curiosity and encourage self-motivated learning.”
Advantages And Disadvantages Of HBL When Picking Up A Second Language
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Disadvantages of Home-Based Learning
Some of the feedback shared on HBL include the following:
- Screen time fatigue
- Difficulty following lessons
- Problems with contacting teachers for immediate feedback and help
“While HBL offers benefits such as allowing students to have a more flexible schedule, younger learners or those who are less disciplined will find it a struggle,” adds Ms Lim.
Advantages of Home-Based Learning
- Accelerated the progress of the use of technology in the education industry
Ms Lim shares that HBL has actually encouraged progressive and new learning experiences to engage young learners.
She explains how many misconceptions about online learning actually stem from a lack of understanding knowledge about the best practices it offers.
- Allows students to have a more flexible schedule for their learning
While this may be true, there is still a majority of young learners that need help to stay engaged. Ms Lim says, “Everyone learns differently and a one-size fits all approach to education is never ideal.”
“Parents can look into helping their children establish routines and also explore the option of supplementary classes to strengthen weaker areas,” she advises.
“Last year, LingoAce introduced the enhanced Singapore Online Program to cater to increasing demand from parents for new, learning experiences at home that keep their children engaged,” Ms Lim continues to share.
She adds, “The program’s curriculum took more than 100 hours of planning by in-house immersion learning specialists and is designed to support varied learning objectives, aligned with the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) syllabus.”
Additional Mental Health Tips On Learning A New Language
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As the mental well-being of our children has recently become a big concern, we asked Ms Lim how parents can ensure their kids are able to maintain a positive mental balance. In which she simply answers, “It all begins at home.”
“Studies show that positive and stable adult-child relationships in the home and early education and care settings help to promote social and emotional skills,” says Ms Lim.
She also shared a few tips on how children can maintain their mental health while learning a new language and with their studies in general:
1. Incorporate learning materials they are familiar with
To help children enjoy learning more, the educator suggests finding ways to help them learn more efficiently and retain information better with material that they like and connect with.
“Some examples of this include a game, a documentary or interactive material,” she also suggests.
She continues to elaborate, “Technology can be a powerful tool in bringing to life cultural stories associated with new vocabulary or encouraging conversations about a topic they are passionate about.”
2. Stress management
“Stress management is a fine balance. This is even more so when it comes to an activity like studying,” admits Ms Lim.
With this, Ms Lim suggests that parents help in the following areas.
- Sufficient rest
The brain takes up a lot of the body’s energy despite only taking up 2% of our body, and this affects our bodily functions and energy levels if overworked, so make sure your child has enough rest built-in.
- Goal setting
A way to do this would be for you to provide your child with structured and visible goals, thus allowing your child to track his or her study progress in preparing for the exam. This way, both you and your child can feel more encouraged and motivated, possibly dispelling feelings of anxiety that arise from uncertainty.
- Mode of study
Make ‘study time’ enjoyable and educational. Children already review their school work in school, so you can do it differently at home. Instead of sitting down together and going through papers alone, you and your child could make use of materials such as documentaries, educational videos and podcasts.
Lead image source from LingoAce.
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