6 years old kid not speak ing English yet and started summer camp in Acton. Very hard. Experience to share?

Question

We are French and set up recently in the US. We decided to have him attend American school and enrolled him to a summer camp in Acton. It seems to be really hard for him. Looking for information on how you handled same situation. Anything to recommend? it is difficult but I do not want this to become a trauma.

Answer 1

Depending on how recently you are in the states it could take awhile for adjusting to a new language.  Get books in English to read, look for a kids PC pack to learn english, speak it to your child and get into a play group with kids his age to get exposure for your son.

Label household things with english titles and have your child read the labels to you in english to help identify what things are in english.

Ask your childs school if they have an ESL teacher that can work with your child also to help him learn the language better.

Answer 2

you obviously speak english so speak english with him at home. alot of parents want to keep trheir heritage alive, via speaking their mother tongue at home however children can be a alot less likely to pick up the foreign language if this is strictly done. so try to speak english with him.

Answer 3

I am also a foreigner, and my kids did not start speaking English until they start attending school, kids are more resilient than we think. He probably wont be traumatized. Don't make a big deal about it.

They learn much faster then we think too, once he becomes interested in friends he will make the effort to start speaking in English.

My battle now is to make them speak my language!!

Good luck!

Answer 4

Hi! when I was 7 my family moved to Paris. My sister (age 5)and I spoke little to no English. But after approximately 1 month and a half, we were chatting along with the other kids.

Complete immersion is the fastest way to learn a language. It is hard, but ultimately your son will be more adaptable for it. Trust me, I am now a teacher and children are very adaptable. If he is a normal child, this will not be a trauma. He will learn quickly.

Some experts recommend your speaking English at home too (others do not-- this is a personal choice!) which may also help him. At least reading to him in English or having him watch English TV will help him too.

Trust me, by the time he starts school in the fall, he will have picked up a lot of the language.

Answer 5

I'm sure it's hard, but he will start understanding very quickly.  At his age, he will probably be speaking by the end of the summer!  Kids pick it up so fast.

If you want, you could also start throwing in English when you are talking to him.  Like say a whole sentence in English, but with one word in French to emphasize.  I did this with a little 3 year old and he was able to understand the whole sentence just because of the one word.

Be sure and rent movies he has seen before in French and watch them in English.  This will make it fun for him too.

Answer 6

It will take a little longer for him to learn English... 6 years old isn't young like a 2-3 year old picking up a language. Aren't there any ESL (english second language) classes available for free at the school?

Answer 7

Homeschooling, can you try that?