Some children live in very culturally diverse areas, and are very fortunate to hear many different languages being spoken around them. Many children are much less exposed to different languages and hearing someone speak a language that is not English may come as a surprise or even frighten them.
If you have children in your setting that speak English as an additional language it is important to not only help them gain an understanding of the English language but also to celebrate their home language, both with them and the other children in your setting.
If you are looking after a child who has English as an Additional Language or has English as a first language but also speaks other languages, then it is nice for you and the children to learn a few words in the child’s home language. This is where working in partnership with parents comes in. Ask parents for some useful words to learn in the child’s home language, such as please, thank you, mummy, daddy and so on. Perhaps there is also a special song or nursery rhyme that they love at home that you could learn together with the other children in your setting. Visit your local library. They often have bilingual books that you can borrow and share with the children.
The idea that it is possible to actually ‘learn’ a few words of a foreign language is in itself a new concept for many children. Young children need to learn that other people may use different words to mean the same object. Who do they know who speaks a foreign language?
If you do not have any children that speak a language other than English it is still nice to explore other languages with your children. However, rather than trying to teach your children how to say ‘hello’ in ten different languages, it is more useful to teach them a little bit of one foreign language. It gives them the idea that a foreign language is something you can learn, and if you’re lucky, may occasionally hear spoken around you.
Last edited 20/05/2024
Products that can help you to learn about and celebrate other languages
Childminding Best Practice Club – themed packs
Join the Childminding Best Practice Club and get monthly packs of themed activities emailed to you. As well as art projects with templates, each pack includes a planning guide to help you plan around a theme.
Diversity Awareness Mega Pack
Printable diversity craft projects and printable diversity colouring pages to help you explore and to teach 20 diversity topics including disability, religion, race, families and multicultural holidays. The pack includes a section about a bilingual girl who speaks French at home and English at school and gives you activities you can use or adapt to whatever foreign languages the children you look after speak.
