How did you learn English or teach your kids to learn English?

[kaka135]

If English is not your native language, how did you start to learn English?

My native language is Chinese and I am staying in Malaysia, English is a compulsory subject here. My parents did not really know English well, and I think I started to learn English when I went to kindergarten. It's an English speaking kindergarten where we can only speak English there.

I am finding ways to teach my children English now.

[pwarbi]

Being born and living in England, English is my native language but I know only too well how much of a hard language it is to learn. For people trying to learn English there are a lot of resources available online that are useful, but I found that a lot of them only give the learner a basic knowledge and if that's all you need then that's fine, but these days simply learning the basics isn't enough.

Once you have learned the basics, I'd recommend trying to read as much as you can in English, even from sources such as newspapers as they will be able to show you how the language is written in a n everyday style. Learning how to say certain key phrases is one thing, but to truly understand the English language then you are going to want/need to learn how to use it in more complicated ways.

[kaka135]

@pwarbi Yes, I agree with you. Learning the basics from school is simply not enough at all. I was able to sit for exams and got good scores in high school, but I wasn't able to enjoy reading a whole English book without keep looking up the dictionary, and I wasn't able to communicate with others confidently in English as well. Moreover, I always have to rely on the subtitle when I was watching English movies.

I am grateful for the invention of Internet, hence we have access to more resources all around the world. I get to read more articles and watch webinars that interest me, and these are from native English speakers, which help me to improve my understanding in daily English usage too.

Now I wonder how I can help my young kids to learn, besides reading them English story books and speaking to them in English sometimes.

[Alexandoy]

English is our second language. It was taught to grade school students. In high school, it used to be the medium of instruction in all schools in our country. But in the last 30 years, the educational system underwent an overhaul to replace English with Filipino for the medium of instruction so you can guess that students are now poor in English. Most English-speaking children are from families who use English at home. In our family, we teach toddlers the basic English language only.

[Kidthebilly]

Well I am Venezuelan by birth and have never traveled to English speaking countries, so I have learned the language through movies, series, music, video games, internet and a little bit of the classes I received at school and in the college. I think it made it easy for me to learn it because I like it. If I had to teach children to speak English I would do it very dynamically and not as it is typically taught in schools. When it comes to children games is the most interactive and effective way for them to learn.

[poisongirl]

I learned to talk English trough music and movies. It was a bit harder to learn how to write because in my original language (Bosnian) you speak as you write and vice versa. I had English in elementary school, but my English teacher finished something like online course, so I couldn't learn much of her. So I started to listen lyrics in song of The Doors, The Beatles, Nirvana, Janis Joplin etc.(thanks to my older sister who used to wake me up every morning with loud music ) and I learned how to say something but had no clue how to write it. I found some books written in English, took the dictionary and practiced. At that time, the hardest word for me was 'queue' it just didn't make sense
Situation got better in high school, teacher was highly educated woman and I thank her every day for forcing us to have conversations in class, not only to learn grammar. Now, I think I am pretty good in English

[Liezel08]

English is not my native language but I can speak and write in English well. Nowadays, through internet and our advanced technology, learning a skill becomes easy. You can quickly search through the internet, get some articles, enroll classes online, take tests and download relevant materials. You just have to be wise in choosing your sources to find the right materials.

Now, I am the tutor of my nephew (5 years old) and I start to teach him the English language. I start with simple English words and showing pictures help him remember them easily. Showing physical objects is better. Next, I teach the simple and common phrases used in common English conversations (ex. thank you, sorry, you're welcome, etc.)

Teaching kids a new language should be enjoyable enough for them, so it is very important to associate things that will caught and hold their attention and will make them remember easily.

[vhinz]

I live in the Philippines where English is not our primary language. Part of the curriculum of our schools is communication skills in which English is the language that we are studying. Majority of our textbooks are also written in English. So I usually learn English from the school. Then even in our home when I was a little, me and my friends used to play and tries to speak in English. English is the International language that Filipinos need to study especially if you want to work abroad. It is also necessary for those you work as an online freelancer. I'm seeing ads about Chinese or Japanese people looking for an online English tutor. So being able to speak fluently English is also a great advantage for job seekers.

[vhinz]

I'm from Philippines where Tagalog is our primary language. I learned speaking English from my parents when I was a little kid. Here in the Philippines, speaking English sometimes part of playing or the parents would use it to teach their kids. And at school we have English subjects and most of our subjects are written and being taught in English. For me being able to speak fluently in English gives greater opportunity to work in corporate world and international jobs. For my kids, I teach them English by giving them words and its meaning and useful phrases for daily conversations. I also let them what English movies because I think it makes learning English faster.

[nnacrter]

Here in Philippines, we learned easily the language of English because since we're in primary school we have English subject.