Learning a language isn’t just about having a knowledgeable teacher

Whether your child is learning Chinese, French, German, or Spanish, there’s bound to be somewhere around town where your child can get some practice in. Take them to a Chinese restaurant and buy them their favorite dish – but only if they can place the order in Chinese! This creates both a challenge and a reward, two important parts of a successful lesson. You can take it a step further by putting yourself in the shoes of the clueless tourist, letting your child take the lead in helping you order a dish to your taste using their second language skills in Chinese learning center .

International grocery stores are also great places to get a bit of extra practice. Imported foods and beverages will usually have ingredient lists in the target language, and lucky for you, your child is there to help you make heads and tails of them. While you’re getting some grocery shopping done, they’re working on their food vocabulary.

If you live in a city with a bustling international community, don’t shy away from Chinatown or Little Italy when running errands, while you get your chores done, the people there are sure to provide some excellent authentic language practice and cultural immersion for your child.

If you don’t live in an area with a strong international community, or if getting out of the home isn’t too practical at the moment, no problem! Getting involved in your child’s second language practice at home is a piece of 蛋糕!

If you haven’t already done so, buy some (age and level appropriate) television series and movies and watch them with your child. After watching, talk about what you just saw and how you interpret what happened. If you didn’t understand, it’s not a problem; you don’t have to be right! In fact, by making mistakes, whether intentional or not, you’re giving your child an opportunity to correct you and feel empowered by their language abilities.