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10 ways to help your child learn a language

1. Open their mind

One of the main things that it is important to do is to open your child’s mind at as young an age as possible to other languages. It has been proven that children’s brains have a vastly superior ability to absorb languages than adults’ brains! Once that part of their brain has been activated, it remains active to a certain extent giving them the facility to learn other foreign languages in the future. So the amount of vocabulary or grammar that they learn at school or at a French Summer Camp is not the only important thing; the opening of their mind will be a subconscious benefit that is more difficult to quantify but equally if not more important.

2. Encourage them to have a go

At school, the focus when learning a language is too often on getting things right and being correct. Of course this is important and in a school context with assessments, it is normal that this is the way languages are taught. However, we find that most children get obsessed with being 100% correct when trying to speak French at our French Summer Camp and they forget that language is a communication tool. If people understand what you are trying to say, then you have succeeded!

3. Mistakes don’t matter

Along the same lines, mistakes aren’t very important when you are learning a foreign language; in fact they are an essential part of language learning. You can’t simply open your mouth and speak in perfect French sentences from the outset. Your brain and your mouth need practice at trying to form phrases and sounds before things start to fall into place. The idea at our French Summer Camp is that juniors can practice in a safe environment, have a go and speak as much as possible. The only way to improve your communication skills in a foreign language is to practice them as much as possible and you will make mistakes along the way but this is part of the learning process.

4. Learn in context

Often much of our language learning is done in a classroom and while language teachers try and create a context for their classes with role-play and games, nothing is a substitute for the real thing! On our French Summer Camp, we take juniors out and about to practice their French on real French people in real life situations, both during their lessons and also during the activities and excursions. Using your language outside of the classroom is a sure way to remember what you have learnt!

5. Take them out of the classroom as well as teaching them in it

Related to the point above, classroom learning has its place and is a valuable part of learning a language. A classroom provides a ‘safe’ environment to learn words, grammar and pronunciation but once you have learnt some words and phrases, you need to get out and practice (if possible in real-life situations).

6. Expose them to multi-lingual and multi-cultural environments

Children don’t often see the point of learning a language. They often live in a place where all of their friends and family speak the same language as them. It is hard for them to imagine the doors it can open in later life. If you can expose them to multi-lingual and multi-cultural environments, this will encourage them to be self-motivated to learn a language to communicate in such situations. Our French Summer Camp welcomes juniors from all over the world speaking many different languages so this is an enjoyable part of the camp for everyone involved.

7. Language learning is fun

Often, when children learn a language at school, it isn’t always fun! Some teachers do a better job than others at making it fun and the children in these classes will enjoy learning a language more and will be more likely to choose to continue studying languages throughout their school life. However, we have all had the experience of getting stuck with a teacher who doesn’t inspire you and in reality you are counting the minutes until the lesson finishes! With French lessons like that, it’s no wonder some of us are uninspired to learn a language. Juniors are sometimes wary of attending a French Summer Camp for this very reason and our teachers and activity leaders work hard to prove them wrong and make sure they have a great time!

8. Use language on holiday

If you holiday abroad as a family, get your children to speak French in everyday situations you come across. Prepare them before by practicing the vocab and phrases they will need. For example, ask them to buy the croissants, order in restaurants or ask for directions, but stay close at hand in case they don’t understand the person’s response!

9. Learn songs

Juniors love singing and songs are a great way to get children speaking foreign languages. One of the teachers at our French Summer Camp was asked to teach her teenage group a French rap which they learned and performed for the rest of the camp!

10. Play a game

All juniors love games, whether it be a board game or a sports game outside in the grounds of our French Summer Camp. Our teachers and activity leaders are the experts in games! They have games for all ages, all interests and all personalities to ensure that our juniors have fun and learn at the same time.

April 27th, 2023
Activities Courses Juniors

Family Camp FAQs for Summer 2023!

Our ‘Family Camp’ is one of our most popular options for parents and children to study with us during the summer season, but it’s also the option that we get asked the most questions about! So we thought we’d put together a quick blog for the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and…

March 28th, 2023
Activities Juniors

Summer Holidays in France 2022 Recap : Why not visit in 2023?

Summer 2022 feels like a long time ago, especially now we have snow in Morzine. But what a Summer it was! Our Summer Camp kicked off with a busy week as Morzine hosted the starting stage of Le Tour de France and the bi-annual Harley Day’s Festival. We managed…

Mountain walks on our Learn French France Immersion course

September 15th, 2021
Activities Juniors Things to do

New this year! Alpine French School welcomes you, children & parents, during all school holidays!

Why not visit Morzine during the next half-term holiday and enjoy learning French as well as enjoying the great mountain activities that Morzine has to offer! New, this year (2021 – 2022), we offer family French day camps in the school holidays : October half-term, Christmas & New Year,…

May 3rd, 2021
Juniors News Special Offers

Affordable French & English Summer Language & Activity Camps for local children & teenagers

If you are looking for an alternative to other Morzine holiday clubs for this summer, then read on….. Why are Alpine French School Summer Activity & Language Camps the right fit for your children this summer? The basics: Specially designed for expat children and teenagers living in the Vallée d’Aulps…