Mom Shares Easy Hack to Help Teach Kids Two Languages at Once
With the growing French immersion programs around south Louisiana, this could be a big help in your child excelling in school.
Benefits of Learning Another Language
What if your child was already fluent in French by the time they got to class? Not to mention, the opportunities that could be given later in life once they hit the job force.
There's also been studies done that show that being multilingual improves cognition, and is easier to learn the younger you are. That being one of many reasons, my parents really wanted my grandparents to speak to me in Cajun-French growing up. Unfortunately, they refused, as I'm sure they thought the trouble they were given growing up would extend to me, not fully understanding the changing times. However, you have the opportunity to give your child this gift.
How do I teach my child another language?
This mother and teacher, who goes by teacher.wants.to.adopt on TikTok, has given a very short, very easy hack on how to teach your young children two languages at once. She has two small children of her own, and has been using this trick to teach both of her kids Spanish while they learn English as a first language.
This is an inexpensive way for your children to go about learning another language, as there are no classes to pay for. It's simply having your children watch TV shows or videos on their tablets in a different language.
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“Parenting hack from a teacher: Have all of your kids’ screen time be in another language. My kids only watch TV and tablets in Spanish,” she said.
In the video, her two children are gathered around a tablet watching a show, fully immersed in Spanish.
“Now they both speak Spanish, and my younger daughter is almost fluent,” the mother said. “My older daughter is learning to read, so I put the subtitles in Spanish, and we talk about the difference between how to read in both languages.”
She says that her kids are always exposed to the Spanish language through media, but now "they understand what they are watching and love it!”
The one caveat is that you don't want your kids to have their own "secret" language around the house, so you should probably do a little studying of your own and learn the language yourself!
Praise was spilled upon this mother and teacher in the comments of her video.
“Yes! It’s better for children to learn two languages at the same time if the goal is bilingualism! And introduce another language before the age of 6!” someone commented.
“I’m not going to lie, that’s genius,” a person wrote.
“I learned English by watching Full House and playing video games in English. Now I’m the best in my English class,” another said.
Whatever the language (or languages) you want your child to pick up on, why not try it this way? Or at the very least, it won't hurt them. Even if they don't become fully fluent in another language, it will surely give them a head start!
Just think if they could give their classmates a full tour in another language of these field trip destinations.