How to take a story and get the kids to speak about it? - This is one of the questions you have asked about stories as a language learning tool.
Before I give you some ideas and suggestions how to do that, let me remind you of the process of language development: Children first learn to listen and understand before they are able to produce language on their own. Actively speaking a language also developed in several stages, as you have experienced with the development of tongue, from using single words to two- or three word sentences to more complex sentence structures.
Before I give you some ideas and suggestions how to do that, let me remind you of the process of language development: Children first learn to listen and understand before they are able to produce language on their own. Actively speaking a language also developed in several stages, as you have experienced with the development of tongue, from using single words to two- or three word sentences to more complex sentence structures.
The examples and suggestions I mentioned in the previous two emails will help you to support your child in reaching the stages of listening comprehension and understanding, in context, what you are saying. You don't' require the assistance of a teacher to help your child learn the basics: Use the short story and the accompanying audio as well as one or more of the activities and you and your child will be ready for the next step: helping your child to speak German.
Before you ask your child to 'say something in German' please be aware of a few things:
- If you mainly speak you own native language with your child, he may be reluctant to start using another
language with you.
- As we speak our native language, we don't always answer in full sentences so keep the use of language
natural as you would speak it. Rather make sure that your child understands what you are saying and ask
open questions that require him to say something in response.
- Following on from the previous point, encourage your child to use German by being a role model and using
it yourself as much as you can, describing what you are doing as yo do it. Remember how often you would
repeat words and phrases when your children were small? Do the same thing with the new language.
- One additional point I keep mentioning when parents ask how to encourage speaking is that you offer your
child a choice of two or three responses so that he can choose one option for his reply. This also reinforces
the repetition of language and increases the amount of language you can use even in a short conversation.
Whenever hear back from parents whose children attend my lessons how they use German at home it just makes my day. When I hear that one of them used a bit of German at home telling his granny what the animals are - in German. Or when another one tells me that she will be going to Germany where she will see the characters of a fairy tale - Der Wolf und die sieben Geisslein' it makes me very happy, and her parents even more so.
Mind you, the parents of these children put in a lot of effort and resources to help their children learn German, and have done so since the children were very young. The support these parents are looking for is a structured yet playful approach to learning a new language. Using stories and related activities offers one option to implement this approach.
Here's how you can use a story and help your child to speak German:
1. Read the story several times and start pausing at certain points during the story when the words or
phrases appear that you want your child to learn and have practise before with listening exercises.
2. Pause reading and point to the specific part of a picture in the story which is coming up in the text and ask
your child to fill in the word or phrase for you.
3. Ask questions about the story (or after a short paragraph at the beginning) after you have finished reading.
Let you child answer with his own words or provide multiple choice answers.
4. Ask you child to replace specific words or phrases with alternatives (provided he has acquired the
vocabulary to do so). This method works very well if he can come up with funny or silly words or uses
the opposite of what is told in the story.
Now you may wonder how you can transfer the language from the story and get your child to use it without the context of the story? Words and phrases from stories help us to get our child started with speaking, however, we need to activate that knowledge through other activities, otherwise it's just rote learning. He needs to learn how to use words from a story in real life situations, and that proves to be the most difficult part. Some suggestions:
1. Using vocabulary and phrases from the above mentioned story, play a round of Twister and take turns
announcing which body part goes on which colour. By taking turns he can use you as a model to know
what to say.
2. Play a board game which uses colours or body parts (on the dice or the board) and play it with your child using the German vocabulary.
3. Help your child learn a song about the respective topic (for ex. Grün, grün, grün sind alle meine Kleider)
which also offers opportunities to expand learning to new vocabulary and topics.
4. Another activity could include planets (still referring to our short story in case you haven't read it yet) such
as learning more about planets - in German, possibly with a science book or similar; or get crafty and make
a collage about planets or build a planet mobile, depending on how much you and your child are interested in such activities.
All these activities are designed to use the new language for communication rather than an academic subject studying sentence structures, verb conjugation etc. In order to achieve this, all of who want their children to live the bilingual life have to take into account three very important factors to be able to reach our goal:
Purpose and Motivation - be very clear why it is that you want your child to learn a second language as the journey to acquiring a language is a long one. Unless you are very focused as to why you are doing this chances are that along the way you may give up if you don't see the results as quickly as you thought they would come.
Consistency - Once you are clear why you want your child to learn German, start integrating the language into your child's life, one step at a time. Use stories to familiarise him with the language and add other options of exposing him to the language, such as other (native) speakers of the language, music, TV, lessons, and any other support you may be able to arrange. The key is to expose him to the language consistently as opposed to short intense learning periods.
Persistence - Learning a language - and one that isn't spoken around you and your child - takes time and effort. You may feel, at times, that it takes a lot of effort to achieve only small results, especially if your child is still quite young. However, if you want the language to be a part of your child's life you will see that persistence pays off in the long term. You are laying the foundations for the acquisition of a language that your child, once reaching teenage years or young adulthood, may most likely never pursue on their own.
Without your persistence, your child - even with a parent speaking German as a minority language - may lose or not learn the language in the first place.
When I asked you to tell me about your questions about using stories for language, I had in mind a solution for you that will enable you to either get started with helping your child learn German, or continue with reading activities and active use of the language. In my next post I will give you all the details about this solution - which the parents and I have been using with children who attend my lessons. This resource will help you to teach your child German in a structured yet playful way, integrating all steps of language learning I have outlined in the last emails. I will also show you how, by using this resource, you can learn to generate your own play-based learning activities to support your child, based on the resources and time you have available. I will be offering this resource for a limited time at a special price so keep an eye out for my next post!
Do you have any questions or comments about getting started or how to move on to the next level of learning German with your child? Let me in the comments below!
Before you ask your child to 'say something in German' please be aware of a few things:
- If you mainly speak you own native language with your child, he may be reluctant to start using another
language with you.
- As we speak our native language, we don't always answer in full sentences so keep the use of language
natural as you would speak it. Rather make sure that your child understands what you are saying and ask
open questions that require him to say something in response.
- Following on from the previous point, encourage your child to use German by being a role model and using
it yourself as much as you can, describing what you are doing as yo do it. Remember how often you would
repeat words and phrases when your children were small? Do the same thing with the new language.
- One additional point I keep mentioning when parents ask how to encourage speaking is that you offer your
child a choice of two or three responses so that he can choose one option for his reply. This also reinforces
the repetition of language and increases the amount of language you can use even in a short conversation.
Whenever hear back from parents whose children attend my lessons how they use German at home it just makes my day. When I hear that one of them used a bit of German at home telling his granny what the animals are - in German. Or when another one tells me that she will be going to Germany where she will see the characters of a fairy tale - Der Wolf und die sieben Geisslein' it makes me very happy, and her parents even more so.
Mind you, the parents of these children put in a lot of effort and resources to help their children learn German, and have done so since the children were very young. The support these parents are looking for is a structured yet playful approach to learning a new language. Using stories and related activities offers one option to implement this approach.
Here's how you can use a story and help your child to speak German:
1. Read the story several times and start pausing at certain points during the story when the words or
phrases appear that you want your child to learn and have practise before with listening exercises.
2. Pause reading and point to the specific part of a picture in the story which is coming up in the text and ask
your child to fill in the word or phrase for you.
3. Ask questions about the story (or after a short paragraph at the beginning) after you have finished reading.
Let you child answer with his own words or provide multiple choice answers.
4. Ask you child to replace specific words or phrases with alternatives (provided he has acquired the
vocabulary to do so). This method works very well if he can come up with funny or silly words or uses
the opposite of what is told in the story.
Now you may wonder how you can transfer the language from the story and get your child to use it without the context of the story? Words and phrases from stories help us to get our child started with speaking, however, we need to activate that knowledge through other activities, otherwise it's just rote learning. He needs to learn how to use words from a story in real life situations, and that proves to be the most difficult part. Some suggestions:
1. Using vocabulary and phrases from the above mentioned story, play a round of Twister and take turns
announcing which body part goes on which colour. By taking turns he can use you as a model to know
what to say.
2. Play a board game which uses colours or body parts (on the dice or the board) and play it with your child using the German vocabulary.
3. Help your child learn a song about the respective topic (for ex. Grün, grün, grün sind alle meine Kleider)
which also offers opportunities to expand learning to new vocabulary and topics.
4. Another activity could include planets (still referring to our short story in case you haven't read it yet) such
as learning more about planets - in German, possibly with a science book or similar; or get crafty and make
a collage about planets or build a planet mobile, depending on how much you and your child are interested in such activities.
All these activities are designed to use the new language for communication rather than an academic subject studying sentence structures, verb conjugation etc. In order to achieve this, all of who want their children to live the bilingual life have to take into account three very important factors to be able to reach our goal:
Purpose and Motivation - be very clear why it is that you want your child to learn a second language as the journey to acquiring a language is a long one. Unless you are very focused as to why you are doing this chances are that along the way you may give up if you don't see the results as quickly as you thought they would come.
Consistency - Once you are clear why you want your child to learn German, start integrating the language into your child's life, one step at a time. Use stories to familiarise him with the language and add other options of exposing him to the language, such as other (native) speakers of the language, music, TV, lessons, and any other support you may be able to arrange. The key is to expose him to the language consistently as opposed to short intense learning periods.
Persistence - Learning a language - and one that isn't spoken around you and your child - takes time and effort. You may feel, at times, that it takes a lot of effort to achieve only small results, especially if your child is still quite young. However, if you want the language to be a part of your child's life you will see that persistence pays off in the long term. You are laying the foundations for the acquisition of a language that your child, once reaching teenage years or young adulthood, may most likely never pursue on their own.
Without your persistence, your child - even with a parent speaking German as a minority language - may lose or not learn the language in the first place.
When I asked you to tell me about your questions about using stories for language, I had in mind a solution for you that will enable you to either get started with helping your child learn German, or continue with reading activities and active use of the language. In my next post I will give you all the details about this solution - which the parents and I have been using with children who attend my lessons. This resource will help you to teach your child German in a structured yet playful way, integrating all steps of language learning I have outlined in the last emails. I will also show you how, by using this resource, you can learn to generate your own play-based learning activities to support your child, based on the resources and time you have available. I will be offering this resource for a limited time at a special price so keep an eye out for my next post!
Do you have any questions or comments about getting started or how to move on to the next level of learning German with your child? Let me in the comments below!
RSS Feed
