Methods to teach languages to children
Until a couple of decades ago, society did not give importance to the bilingualism it is reaching in the 21st century, although there were a large number of children who were lucky enough to be bilingual . In the vast majority of cases, they were children of parents from two different countries, wit
Until a couple of decades ago, society did not give importance to the bilingualism it is reaching in the 21st century, although there were a large number of children who were lucky enough to be bilingual . In the vast majority of cases, they were children of parents from two different countries, with which most of the studies that were done on methods to teach languages to children and bilingual learning were focused on this family style. .
In Guiainfantil.com we tell you some of the lastmethods to teach languages to children, in a natural and simple way.
Methods to teach languages to children
In recent years, bilingualism has become very strong in early childhood education, and it must be clearly defined. According to the RAE (Spanish Royal Academy), bilingualism is the "usual use of two languages in the same region or by the same person", but it is also "the ability of a person to speak two languages without taking an effort mentally, even if I do not speak it regularly ". Among the methods to teach languages to children
the OPOL method " one person one language"stands out. To implement this method it is necessary that each parent speaks a different language and thatalways speak in their priority language the baby or the child. The OPOL method makes the brain completely differentiate that there are two languages and that the child, even when in the room with the two parents, will have to use in each situation one, making this change for the child's brain in a logical situation and normal, thus developing a series of differences with the brain of a monolingual child. It is proven that the OPOL method is the most effective
in the simultaneous learning of different languages. The only drawback we find is that in order for 100 per cent of the parents to function, they have to speak different languages in a natural way, a situation we find in very few families. We can always rely on family members or private teachers, although it will never be as effective as the parents, who are the ones who will spend more time with the child and also have a stronger bond with him. Another method to teach languages to children, which has shown good results in childhood, is the "Preview Review" , which consists of the translation of each word and each concept. It is very widespread and is the most used among children from 3 to 6 years
, who have not had contact with the second language in the first years of life. To apply this system well, it requires a lot of effort by the educator, since the type of phrases to use must be short and very clear. As you progress and the children become familiar with the second language, you should reduce the first language trying to tend to the OPOL method. The drawbacks of this system are thatis slower than the OPOL method and more laborious. Jolly Phonics is a method designed to pronounce correctlyand adapt the children's speech device. This method toavoid speaking with an accent is currently being used to complete bilingual education, since it is focused on the pronunciation of English phonemes from an early age.
