This post is for all of you parents out there who are considering teaching your children a new language. It’s hard to know where to start, and it can be very overwhelming. Should we teach them Spanish or French? What about Mandarin Chinese? Or maybe Arabic? The decision might seem daunting, but don’t worry! We’ll discuss 10 languages that could give your child a head start in life.
Why Is It Important To Teach Your Child A New Language?
Well, there are many reasons why it’s good to give your children the ability to speak more than one language. First of all, you’ll be giving them a crucial head start in life! Many people live in multicultural neighbourhoods. Knowing two or three languages will help kids make friends quickly when they’re older. It also gives them better job opportunities; no matter their area of interest, being bilingual can open up so many doors for employment. Employers like employing multilingual individuals who know how to deal with different cultures both at home and abroad.
For most parents, a lot of effort is being put into ensuring the best possible education for their kids. With all resources made available to ensure they are at par in every way. This includes knowing multiple languages. This means sacrificing a lot for many parents despite having little time themselves or money to spend on tuition fees for additional classes after school hours and during weekends since many have day jobs too!
You could teach your child foreign languages without needing an extensive budget or hiring extra tutors if only you knew where to start!
With improved Internet access and rapid growth in technology, teaching your children a foreign language might be easier than you think.
All you have to do is find the right resource and use them consistently for the best results.
The next question that usually comes up is which languages should we teach our children? Unlike certain countries around the world where English is widely spoken everywhere, there are many countries where English is not the most common language. In fact, in some European countries like France and Spain, only about one-third of the population can fluently speak English.
Via Pexels
Here are ten language options to teach your children:
Norwegian
Norwegian is a fantastic language to teach your children because it’s not extremely difficult for English speakers. In addition, the grammar in this language isn’t too complicated, and there are lots of cognates that exist between the two languages!
Norwegian classes are widely available all over the world, whether it be through schools or universities. There are also several online courses available that you can use alongside your child’s English language learning.
Norwegian kids shows exist, but it’s a little harder to find them on TV. If you do find them, make use of subtitles to help you as a parent understand the basics of the language. This can also help you monitor the content you are exposing your children to. You can also turn to online sources like YouTube for videos they will love!
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese is another excellent option if you’re thinking about teaching your kids a new language. This one is particularly good for toddlers who have just started speaking their first few words because they’ll be able to incorporate the sounds into their vocabulary more easily than other languages like French, where certain letters don’t really sound anything like what they mean (example: “un” doesn’t actually make any sound in French).
Mandarin Chinese classes are a bit harder to come by because it’s not as popular of a language. There aren’t many schools offering the classes, but its popularity has increased in recent years as China has become a popular business destination.
Mandarin Chinese kids shows are scarce on television. If you do find shows, you’ll mostly find short segments and episodes rather than full-length shows. Youtube is an excellent place to search for Mandarin Chinese children shows.
Arabic
Arabic is another language with a considerable amount of cognates between English, so it’s great for anyone who likes studying languages. It’s also quite easy to pick up because the sounds are similar to what you’d expect them to be if they were written down phonetically. The grammar isn’t too complex either! Don’t worry about learning classical Arabic – most people speak the Egyptian dialect, which will be easier for your children anyway.
Italian
Italian is yet another favourite option out there when it comes to teaching kids new languages. You’ll find lots of cognates between English and Italian, so it’s straightforward to learn. In addition, it has a lovely accent that you can’t help but love when speaking with native Italians! The grammar is also not too complicated, making this language ideal for kids just starting out.
Italian kids shows exist, but they’re not very popular, so you’ll have to look a little harder for them.
Portuguese
Portuguese is another really good option if you’re looking at teaching your children something new! Like many of the above languages listed here, there are many cognate words which makes learning them much easier than other options like French, where certain letters don’t sound anything like what they look like in writing.
This is another language spoken in South America, but it has quite a lot of speakers around the world. It would be easy to find Portuguese classes for your kids wherever you are located!
There are lots of apps and online resources like YouTube videos to keep your kids entertained and learning.
Via Pexels
Spanish
It’s a very popular language that lots of people speak. In fact, over 572 million people internationally speak Spanish.
Spanish is also similar to English in some ways, making it easier for your children to grasp the new concepts and words they’ll encounter when learning this foreign language. Also, due to its similarities with other languages such as French or Italian, students may find themselves speaking more easily than if they were studying a completely different tongue like Chinese. Furthermore, there are many online resources that can help you teach your child how to speak Spanish quickly and effectively, so give these a try too!
If you’re looking into teaching your kids another language, then consider starting them off on Spanish, as it will be an easy transition from their mother tongue. Many parents across Europe learn Spanish as a second or third language.
Greek
Greek is another one worth mentioning because although English does use a lot of words from other languages, including French and Latin roots/descriptors etc., Greek takes things up a notch! There are tons of exotic names for certain parts of our bodies which we don’t really use in English anymore (for example: “tarsus,” which is a part of the foot) so just be aware that this one might take some more time to get used to!
Greek is a good choice for your children to learn from the offset because its alphabet makes it even easier due to its similarity with English. Furthermore, there are many online resources for free. Try searching, and you’ll find a whole bunch!
Danish
Danish sounds very different from English, but it’s actually not too difficult for children who have already started learning their first language. It has a lot of cognates with other languages, including German and Norwegian, which makes it easier for young learners to pick up words here and there while also having fun discovering new ones!
If you’re looking into teaching your children a new language quickly and want it to be fairly painless, consider giving them some exposure to Danish! You may find that they pick up on words more easily than you’d expect!
German
This one isn’t quite as easy for kids who are looking at teaching themselves because although you will find lots of cognates between English, they’re not always used in the same way, so it’s important to have a good grasp of the grammar before you start teaching your children this one!
German is another good language for children trying to learn new languages at the same time because it’s quite similar to English in its sentence structure. Furthermore, there are lots of resources online which will help you teach your children how to speak German quickly and effectively!
French
Last but not least, French is another option for kids who are already fluent speakers of English. It has fewer cognates than some other languages like Italian, which makes everything harder at first because there are no familiar words that they can pick up easily while learning them. However, if your child speaks Spanish or Portuguese, then this would be an excellent choice too because these three languages work together very well and often use similar sentence structures with each other compared to English!
It is easier than ever to learn a new language with all the resources available these days. The key will be to strategically figure out which languages will be the best to give your kids the kick start in life they deserve.
Laura x