Brea teaches French Over Coffee in Vancouver and Burnaby
What do you do when your children start learning the French language and you only know the word ‘bonjour’? You may be wondering how you could ever possibly help your children with their school work and be involved in their education. My parents were in exactly the same boat when I joined French immersion, but they did five things throughout my education that really helped me thrive.
- My parents made learning French into a family project. We had weekly lessons where I would teach them a little bit of French vocabulary or grammar. They say the best way to study is by teaching someone else, and I found that after trying to explain different grammar concepts to my very monolingual parents, I was a lot more comfortable when I was later tested in school.
- They turned the house into a French-English dictionary. We had post-it notes on different items all over the house with the French word and it’s gender. Seeing those words every day for months on end engraved them into my sub-conscious and I have not forgotten even one of them. I doubt I ever will.
- They made sure that even if they couldn’t speak the language that I would still hear it all over the house. Listening and being immersed in the language is how we learn English as infants and I believe it’s the reason I’m so comfortable with the language now. We always had French music playing on the radio and they encouraged me to always watch French cartoons instead of the regular English ones.
- They made sure I didn’t lose all the skills I had acquired during the year, over summer break. Returning to school in the fall can be a challenge for most kids when most of the knowledge accumulated over the past year will have faded away. It can become an even bigger issue for students who are trying to adopt a new language. Two months is a long time for a child to not speak French, and as the saying goes “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” My parents had me doing at least three hours of French a week. It could be something as easy as reading French books or doing exercises they found online. I found that casually exercising my French muscle over the summer did wonders for my ability to use the language. When I returned to school I was able to jump right into the flow of things, gaining new skills and flourishing while the other children struggled to retain what they had learnt the previous year.
- They really took my French education seriously. Even though they had no clue what I was talking about when I spoke to them in French they did everything in their power to help me to succeed. They were enthusiastic and supportive. They tried every means necessary to help me with my homework. Even if it occasionally frustrated them that they could not easily help me, they never let it show. It is really just down to support. If your child comes to you in need of help and you’re unfamiliar with the language, never shrug it off. Simply hop onto a translator on the internet. Show interest in what they’re studying and find the answer to their problem together. Who knows, maybe you might learn something too.
