How to Learn Languages for Kids

Kids can learn sign languages before they can even speak.

Human beings crave interaction with other humans, and we even develop our own communication systems when deprived of the usual language input, reports Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The more language kids hear, the more efficiently they learn to communicate needs and wants and negotiate the maze of social relationships. Kids who learn multiple languages demonstrate greater creativity, complex problem-solving ability, increased test scores, have a wider variety of career options and greater cultural sensitivity. To attain such benefits, kids need to experience multiple aspects of language, including talking, listening, music, games and cultural activities to train the ear, the tongue and the mind.

Things You'll Need

• Children's books and magazines
• Audiobooks

Instructions

1. Talk to your kids. This may sound simplistic and obvious, yet direct communication is the most powerful tool at your disposal when helping kids acquire language. Young children especially are keenly tuned into figuring out how language works through the language they hear all around them. Whatever you are doing with your child, talk to him about it as you do it together. This will help him associate appropriate vocabulary with the tools, materials, sights, sounds and activities that are important in his world. Make time to talk to him about his day and his play, encouraging him to express himself verbally and with body language.

2. Read to your kids. No one can physically go everywhere and do everything with children, so reading about places and activities that are not readily accessible helps kids develop vocabulary and understanding of concepts outside of their locally available experiences. Point to and discuss pictures to further develop expressive ability and associate the images with specific vocabulary. Attend a library story hour for further read-aloud experiences.

3. Select an audio book or radio story program for kids to help your child learn to listen and understand spoken language. Ask her to tell you what she heard, suggests Bruce D. Perry, psychiatry professor at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. Gently discuss any gross misunderstandings to lead her to better understand how to listen to language.

4. Attend culturally oriented children's theater, dance and musical productions, zoos and art displays that feature the culture and language of the country where the language is spoken. Cook some typical cultural dishes and try them, or go to a restaurant with ethnic cuisine. Talk about the show, display or the meal to demonstrate context-specific vocabulary.

5. Teach kids songs and games in the target language. Games teach kids social language to help them develop friendships with native speakers of the language. Music gives kids a feel for the natural rhythms of a language, not to mention that music has a way of sticking in your memory when prose fails, making it an effective way to learn vocabulary, grammar and the possibilities of creative expression in the language. Both give the language-learning process a game-like feel, making it a natural part of the childhood experience rather than an onerous add-on to the required school curriculum.

References

• Scholastic, Inc.: How Young Children Learn Language: Bruce D. Perry, M.D.: April 2006
• Kid Source: Why, How, and When Should My Child Learn a Second Language?: Kathleen Marcos
• USA Today: More Children Learn More Than One Language: Beth Walton: January 10, 2007
• Forbes Magazine: Noam Chomsky On Why Kids Learn Languages Easily
• Babies and Sign Language.com: Baby Sign Language with Your Infant or Toddler

Resources

• Signing with Your Baby
• Forbes Magazine: Noam Chomsky On The Spontaneous Invention of Language