Going into a language immersion setting for the first time can be overwhelming for a child, especially older children, and understandably so! As adults we can totally identify with this. However, unlike adults, children can adapt to an immersion setting rather quickly as their language learning skills are still extremely sharp. As adult learners (actually more like from puberty and beyond) we are less inclined to pick up a language easily through immersion.
We of course want our young kids to take advantage of those sharp language skills by gaining exposure to a language as early as possible. So perhaps that’s where you find yourself now; you’ve enrolled your child in a language immersion program, (maybe one of ours?) but you’re feeling a little apprehensive about how the first few times are going to go. Completely normal to feel that way, but how do you approach this topic with your little one? Below are some tips that we think will help make this new experience as seamless as possible.
1. First off, remember that for adults, language immersion can feel incredibly overwhelming — but that might not actually be the case for your young child. Try not to project your apprehension or nervousness on them if they’re not showing signs of being nervous themselves. That is first and foremost.
2. Secondly, walk your child through what the experience is going to be like. Try to keep it as low-pressure as possible. Again, we don’t want our own nervousness to get in the way. Simply describe what will take place, and then let them decide how they feel about this.
✔️ SAY: “You’re going to hear your teacher speak in [language name]. There’s going to be lots of new words and sounds. It’s okay if you don’t understand everything, your teachers are there to help you learn! This will be your first step in learning [language name] and I’m so excited for you!”
🚫 AVOID: “You’re not going to understand anything they say. You’ll probably feel really lost or overwhelmed or frustrated.” (Maybe they will, but maybe they won’t! Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.)
👉🏽 FOLLOW UP WITH: “Feel free to let your teachers know if you don’t understand something or if you need them to show you something again.” (Or if it’s an immersion setting where you’ll be there with them (like an online program or travel abroad): “Feel free to let me know how you’re feeling. We’ll be learning together!”)
From there, pause. Do they seem excited about their new class? Then leave it at that! If they’re very young (under three years old), they probably won’t be feeling apprehensive about the language aspect. Language acquisition is the name of their game! That’s literally their number one job in life right now; aside from figuring out how the world works, their main task is to learn the language around everything they’re seeing, thinking, and feeling.
Between ages three and five, how your child takes to immersion will depend largely on the child. Some will be more outgoing, plunging ahead despite not understanding, while others will feel more shy. And then for Kindergarten age and beyond (and increasingly so with age), your child likely will feel initial apprehension or frustration at not being able to understand, regardless of their personality.
So if you child is feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, here’s how to proceed:
3. Remind them that everyone starts somewhere and assure them that it will get easier with time. This is not an empty promise by any means — the more time they spend training their ear, getting to know the routines, and tuning into language patterns and visual cues, the easier it will become!
4. Tell them to think of the language like a waterfall (or a shower, or a pool, or whatever type of water they like best! lol). At first it will feel like the language comes streaming down abruptly, but the longer they stand under the stream, the more they will start to soak up the language.
✔️ SAY: “Let the language wash over you. Don’t worry about what you don’t understand, instead soak up the sounds. Listen to the sounds and the pauses. Little by little you’ll start to soak up more and more. You’ll start to understand more each time.”
5. Encourage them to look out for “clues.” The teacher will likely be providing plenty of visual clues. The teacher may also use the majority language now and then for clarification, those are clues too. (Children hone in on clues naturally and subconsciously while learning a language, but it can’t hurt to bring it to their attention.)
✔️ SAY: “Language learning is kind of like being a detective and looking for clues. Can you look out for some clues that your teacher might be giving you? Maybe (s)he’ll say ‘manzana’ a couple of times while holding an apple. ‘Manzana!’ What do you think ‘manzana’ might mean?” 🍎
6. Encourage them to repeat key words, especially when they’re seeing the clues.
✔️ SAY: “When you hear your teacher repeating a word over and over, it’s probably a key word that (s)he wants you to learn. You can repeat it too, especially when you’re seeing a clue. ‘Manzana, manzana.’”
7. Use whatever resources your teacher gives you to keep the learning going at home throughout the week. Listen to the songs on repeat (songs are SOOO good for language learning). Look up vocabulary lists by theme if your child’s class does themes. Make labels for things around the house. Model to your child that you’re learning too!
8. Lastly, remind them of the end goal. Remind them why you, as a family, value bilingualism. Don’t overwhelm your child with lofty, faraway goals, but rather just the simple, short, concise goal of “bilingualism.”
✔️ SAY: “We’re learning [target language] because we think it’s soooo cool to be able to speak two languages. That’s called being bilingual. By learning [target language] we’re becoming bilingual!”
🚫 AVOID: “I want you to be able to speak to grandpa in [target language] as much as you do to me in [majority language].” or “When we travel to Bolivia, I want you to be able to talk to all of the other kids there!” (While these are great goals, and can be expressed as part of why you value bilingualism, setting it as a goal right of the bat may be intimidating for a child to even fathom. So we recommend to keep goals short and sweet when starting out.)
All in all, remember that young children are wired to process language. They’re wired to process what they hear and connect it with visual cues. They process by listening out for patterns, like how a string of syllables (i.e. ‘bu-fan-da’) will repeatedly occur amidst the other syllables. They also process it by learning ‘language chunks,’ and they start being able to predict what words will come next (i.e. “Tengo mucho…” is often followed by “sueño,” especially with the visual cue of the speaker yawning.) Their brains are at work in a way that is unimaginable to us as adult learners.
✨ There you have it! How to help your child adjust to a language immersion setting. Lay the groundwork, trust the process, and support your child through it!
Thank you for reading; so glad that your family has chosen to cultivate and celebrate bilingualism! Looking for an awesome language immersion program to jump start your child’s bilingualism journey? Bilingüitos offers full Spanish immersion programs online for you and your littles! Check out our current session here. Also, follow along with our Instagram or our Facebook and join the conversation!
