{"id":169,"date":"2013-02-14T19:49:43","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T19:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nikkimcarthur.com\/?p=169"},"modified":"2013-02-14T19:49:43","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T19:49:43","slug":"keeping-up-with-the-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/keeping-up-with-the-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping up with the English!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ABC\"<\/a>One big challenge when bringing up English speaking children in a foreign speaking country, is when and how to introduce written English. \u00a0It\u2019s one thing to expect a child to learn to speak two languages at the same time, but is it an unnecessary pressure to expect them to cope with learning the different written spellings and pronunciations of two languages at the same time?<\/p>\n

My biggest concern was that my children would not be able to read and write in English.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard of cases of English speaking teenagers with very poor written skills.\u00a0 What a wasted opportunity to be orally bilingual, but not able to read and write in both languages too. It obviously wont just happen automatically without at least a little gentle encouragement, but when is the right time to start introducing it?<\/p>\n

Our second eldest was ten when we moved to France, so he was already competent in reading and writing in English. We never had to do anything special with him to keep up his English, other than encourage him to read and keep in touch with English friends and family (mainly through Facebook and MSN).\u00a0 He\u2019s eighteen now and studying at University in Montpellier.\u00a0 He is fully fluent in French, but he prefers talking, reading and writing in English.<\/p>\n

Our three youngest children are different.\u00a0 They have only attended French schools and are learning to read and write in French first.\u00a0 French is very different to English and I think it\u2019s a lot to ask a 5 or 6 year old (or younger) to try and learn both methods of reading and writing at the same time.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to make the learning process more difficult for them at school.\u00a0 We had no intention of returning to the UK, so didn\u2019t feel there was any rush with their English.<\/p>\n

We decided to take a more organic approach.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t do any formal teaching of reading or writing in English until they\u2019d mastered the basics of French.\u00a0 We spoke exclusively in English at home, we read to them in English and they are exposed to English on TV, but we didn\u2019t sit down with them and try to teach them to read and write in English while they were starting to learn to read and write in French.<\/p>\n

James was about seven nearly eight when he started showing an interest in learning to read English.\u00a0 I let him take the lead, as if I had tried to force him, he would only have resented it.\u00a0 He was playing games on the computer which often have instructions in English.\u00a0 He was tired of having to ask me what they said \u2013 he wanted to be able to read himself and he asked if we could teach him.<\/p>\n

I bought him some English early readers, not complete beginners, but books appropriate for his age or maybe slightly younger to start with.\u00a0 I sat with him for a short time most evenings while he attempted to read them. At first he would naturally read them as he would French, processing the letters on the page to form words from his knowledge of French sounds.\u00a0 I would gently correct him and within a few weeks he was correcting himself.\u00a0 He could already speak English fluently, so he knew when the words he was producing sounded incorrect.<\/p>\n

James is now ten and reads English as well as he can read French, however his written English isn\u2019t so good.\u00a0 He\u2019s recently started messaging friends in England and his older brothers and was making lots of errors.\u00a0 He really wants to be able to write in English now and can see the benefit.\u00a0 Reading in English helps, but he now needs some instruction on some grammar rules and spellings to help him develop his writing skills.\u00a0 We\u2019ve started spending just 10 minutes a day on spellings and grammar and after two weeks he\u2019s already made big improvements.\u00a0 By typing messages in English he\u2019s getting the opportunity to see written English, write English, keep in touch with family and friends and improve his keyboard skills at the same time.<\/p>\n

It really helps if the child is exposed to things that will motivate them to learn.\u00a0 No one enjoys learning if they can\u2019t see an advantage to it.\u00a0 Make sure that the benefits of reading and writing are clear and \u2018because it will be useful to you in later life\u2019 is not an incentive for a child of any age.<\/p>\n

I contacted Sue Aitken from Blackhen Education<\/a> to ask her opinion on the best age to start introducing reading and writing.\u00a0 Blackhen Education offers an excellent range of on-line courses designed to help English speaking children\/students who are schooled in a second language, to maintain and develop their English skills.\u00a0 Sue says:<\/p>\n

“Having now taught children here in France for 2 years, I would say that it is important that they can already read & write in their adopted language, otherwise it will confuse them. I think a lot of parents are too keen to start them at an early age & worry that they will not be able to read & write in English.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However she went on to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cI still believe that even if a child\/student is going to live in France on a permanent basis, they should be able to have choices. I feel quite strongly about giving children the option to learn\/maintain their English & also their cultural identity.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019d say from my experience, don\u2019t push English too soon, but don\u2019t leave it too late either.\u00a0 Let your child take the lead where possible.\u00a0 Wait until they\u2019ve mastered the basics of their adopted language.\u00a0 When they begin taking an interest in learning to read English, start to gently introduce English books first, then gradually encourage them to start writing.\u00a0 Write to their friends and family, birthday and Christmas cards, letters to Santa, thank you notes, postcards etc.\u00a0 Then once they\u2019re starting to get more confident, you can encourage them to use their English in a more creative way \u2013 write a story or a poem etc.\u00a0 If you prefer you can see if there are some local classes for English\u00a0 children in your area or opt for an on-line course like those offered by Blackhen Education<\/p>\n

Jack in the Box<\/a> in Toulouse, offers English speaking children UK primary school classes on Wednesday afternoon and secondary level on Saturday mornings. The children learn to read and write in English alongside other English speaking children, with the focus very much on drama and ‘active learning’. \u00a0I asked Emma Nelson from Jack in Box what her views were on the best time to introduce written English:<\/p>\n

“My experience with my own children and with the children at Jack in the Box suggests that children can indeed learn to read in English at the same time as they are learning to read in French (and in some cases earlier) but when they are actually ready to do so is down to the individual child\u2026 when it comes to English it seems best to choose the time according to the child\u2019s motivation. My eldest child, for example, starting learning to read in English in the summer before he started CP. Learning to read both languages at the same time didn\u2019t phase him and he was interested in the similarities and differences between the two processes. My second child, on the other hand, simply wasn\u2019t interested in learning to read in English until he had completed one term in CP and reached the \u2018acquired\u2019 level in French.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Emma\u2019s experience it would seem that it\u2019s not so much a question of whether it\u2019s better to wait to introduce written English as when is the best time to introduce it for the individual child.<\/p>\n

Whether you choose to introduce it simultaneously with learning French or wait till later, the most important thing is that you help to create an atmosphere where they can enjoy developing a language that comes easily to them. If they are motivated to learn, then you won\u2019t have to force them to do it. Keep it light and fun and if they\u2019re resisting, don\u2019t push it, wait a few months before you try again.\u00a0 Avoid transferring your concerns and anxieties onto them or you\u2019ll be making it more difficult in the long run.<\/p>\n

Trust that given the right encouragement, your child will learn in their own time.\u00a0 Children have an inbuilt curiosity and capacity to learn and they\u2019ll tell you when they\u2019re ready, you just have to be receptive to the signs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One big challenge when bringing up English speaking children in a foreign speaking country, is when and how to introduce written English. \u00a0It\u2019s one thing to expect a child to learn to speak two languages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}