How to Improve English Speaking Skills for Kids
English is one of the most widely accepted languages globally, which makes it essential in everyone’s life from a very early age. The reason behind such popularity of the English language is the highest number of speakers of the language worldwide. It includes both native and non-native speakers.
A part of all the benefits in the professional world because knowing the language and speaking skills in it often gives us a sense of belongingness. It makes us feel confident and efficient as English is an important and powerful language.
Why Should Kids Learn Speaking English?
Developing a habit from an early age always helps in the long run because, with time, the skill or habit gets enhanced and improved, and it becomes a part of daily life.
Children are the fastest learners and be it a language or a skill, they always learn it efficiently. While retaining their mother tongue, it is also very important to learn a universal language that will help them in their career, from school to university, and ultimately in their professional lives.
Learning a universal language like English helps everyone feel connected to the world, and they can easily communicate with people from across the globe. Public speaking becomes much easier with time due to the habit from childhood which makes the person confident and bold.
Methods to Improve English Speaking Skills for Kids
Have conversations in English.
Kids always readily adapt themselves to their surroundings, and hence speaking in English with the parents or friends helps them learn in a healthy and fun way without any pressure of learning a new language.
Having conversations in English will help them boost their confidence to speak English in public. Also, conversations with parents will help the kid correct the mistakes as the parents can always guide them.
Include the habit of reading aloud English books as a part of daily routine.
Reading aloud is an excellent habit that teachers and elders often advise as it helps the kid concentrate while reading. It also helps the parents or the teacher in knowing whether he/she is making any mistakes while pronouncing each word.
Other than all these benefits, it helps them boost their confidence, helps them improve their vocabulary and makes them accustomed to public speaking.
Watch cartoons and movies in English with subtitles.
Children always get fascinated with cartoon and movie characters and try to imitate or follow their behaviors, gestures, and even language. Watching in English may or may not interest them in the beginning, but then subtitles come to help as it enhances –
- Their reading habits
- Familiarizes with the accents
- Teaches them the correct pronunciations of the words and the spellings due to the audio, video, and text combination.
Increase vocabulary.
Try to learn a new word every day. Dictionaries are a good way of enhancing vocabulary and so help the kid to learn how to use a dictionary.
Learning a new word along with its correct meaning, spelling, and pronunciation will help them broaden their vocabularies and help them to use the words correctly while speaking.
Focus more on speaking skills and less on grammar in the initial days.
Let the kids make minor grammatical mistakes in the initial days and gradually correct them as they become more comfortable and confident while speaking English.
As the kid will get used to hearing and reading correct grammar, his/her mistakes will reduce automatically without any extra effort.
Read English books, comics, magazines, newspapers.
Reading books with pictures and images like comics and magazines interests the kids more and help them understand the words even better, which enriches their vocabulary.
Listen to English music, interviews and audiobooks.
Listening to correct English with accurate grammar and pronunciation constantly improves the spoken skills of the kids and even adults. Listening to songs helps them learn even better due to the rhythm and repetitive pattern of the songs, which helps them memorize English quickly.
Play games that help in improving English.
Playing games is always fun and exciting for the kids, and learning a new language while playing is the best deal one can have. Word games like Scrabble, Boggle, and Taboo are specially made for children to enhance their vocabulary, spelling, and verbal skills.
Maintain a diary or journal in English.
Children often love to write down or draw their thoughts in notebooks which is also beneficial in learning a language. The kids should be encouraged for continuing this habit and penning down their thoughts in English. This will not only help them to form sentences but also will reduce their mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Maintaining a diary or journal by kids is proved to be beneficial in processing their thoughts more clearly, making them focussed and also helps them in relaxing.
Few Tips for the Parents to Enhance their kid’s English-Speaking Skills
- Always motivate the kids and refrain from scolding or shouting at them even if they make repetitive mistakes. Try to correct them as many times possible and use their mother tongue or native language to make them understand if necessary.
- Do not interrupt or pause them in between when they are trying to express their thoughts, even if they are unclear.
- Give them commands and directions in daily life activities and keep a check if they can follow them correctly.
- Do not force or compel them to speak English perfectly with zero errors. If they say one word at a time or a sentence with many grammatical errors, encourage them and make them understand the mistakes.
- Always keep a positive approach towards them and keep a smile on the face while interacting with them.
- Initiate small conversations in English where the parent needs to ask a simple question, and the kid can answer in small phrases or sentences with the use of words that they know well.
- ‘Practice makes a man perfect, we all have heard this proverb hundreds of times, and it is true in this scenario as well. Practice will only improve the vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and verbal skills and eventually English-speaking skills.
Follow the methods, remember the tips and be a little sweeter and more considerate to the kids, and it will ultimately help them learn and love English at the same time.