Helping Children Learn English as a Second Language

The most difficult challenge in helping children to adapt to their new lives in the United States is the very apparent issue of a language barrier. When families choose to move to the U.S. for various reasons, be it regarding job transfers or educational purposes, it is crucial that the school-aged children are able to adapt properly to their new environments. There are many simple and basic concepts that can help with the adaptation process. However, it's important to remember that some of these methods require that the children themselves have a positive attitude towards their new lives. Whether or not a child has had previous experience in learning English, it will be a new and fresh experience for most of them to live in an environment surrounded by a new language. Here are some of the methods through which you can help a child adjust to this life-altering event.

Although written with K-12 students in mind, these concepts can be applied to anybody that has just moved to the United States.

1) Don't limit yourself to your native community and language.

- It's important to retain one's knowledge of their native culture and language, but it's also important to remember that surrounding yourself with anything and everything in English will contribute to the growth of your English abilities. This is especially true for children in areas with high a immigration population where one may not even need to speak English to socialize at schools. Remember where you
came from, but don't let yourself be limited from living a new and wonderful experience.

2) Read, read and read.

- Short stories and novels can provide rich vocabulary words and concepts that you may not ordinarily encounter, and they can be extremely entertaining. What's the point of knowing these words when you can get by just fine in everyday conversations? More often than not, these children will need to acquire an understanding of the English language at an accelerated pace than the native students. To look at it in a realistic way, children that moved to the U.S. are at great disadvantage. This stands true especially for the students that are older. They have missed out a lot in terms of having an extensive library of vocabulary wordand it will take an increased amount of effort to catch up. Although they may be 'behind' in reading and writing English, good effort and habits will allow them to easily catch up to the native students.

3) Watch television.

- I have seen students write beautiful essays with advanced concepts and English abilities, but have realized that they sometimes lack the ability to hold naturally-flowing conversations. Reading allows you access to new knowledge and helps you solidify your reading and writing in English. More often than not, however, reading may not successfully address the issue regarding the practical application of this new-found knowledge. There are a variety of television shows that are probably not too beneficial towards learning English. But shows on channels such as the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network can provide a fun and entertaining way for younger students to familiarize themselves with the spoken aspect of English. But make sure you don't overdo it!

4) Encourage and interact as a family.

- The idea of encouraging the students should be highest priority of the parents. It's a new environment and they're not sure what's going on - it's important them to recognize that they have a loving family. It's also important to interact as a family in terms of learning English. Te entire family is going through a life-altering transition and it will be much easier for everyone to be able to relate to one another. Try to speak more English at home or maybe have a night or two out of the week where the entire family will sit together to play games (in English!). This kind of interactions is just what you would expect from normal families - don't change up the dynamics of your family. It has been enough of a change moving to a new country and stability is an important issue.

Although these are only some of the ways to help your children (and you) adapt to a life in this new country, there are many more methods that you can practice to help yourselves. Moving to a new country is a difficult process. There will be several emotional strains as it's quite hard to adapt to a new culture. But with careful planning, the willingness to learn, and the supportive environment of a loving family, students and their families can begin to pave new and fulfilling lives in the United States.