Children are great mimics-surround them with the sounds of a foreign language and they will naturally copy what they hear and learn with no effort. Songs and rhymes are great for this!
Read stories with accompanying cassettes. Familiarise your child with the story in English first-children are quickly able to repeat the story to you! Then listen to the cassettes of the story in French-your child will know what the French means because he knows the story off by heart!
Play cassettes in the car-give your child the accompanying story book or song book to keep them entertained.
Introduce common words and phrases into everyday situations. Choose a theme, such as colours, and ask your child what colour various objects are throughout the day. Play games that use phrases in the foreign language.
Show lots of interest and enthusiasm about other languages in order to encourage your child's learning. If your child says a new word in a second language, get excited and make a fuss! Your child will feel a great sense of achievement!
Learn to sing songs in the foreign language by listening to cassettes.
Watch videos together - a really simple way to absorb another language
Increase your child's daily exposure to the second language as much as you can. Why not form a playgroup or coffee group with other mums and children who are learning to speak the foreign language?
Play CD-Rom games together
If you know a foreign language, simply begin to speak it in short, often-used phases. You will be surprised how quickly your child will catch on! You know those words and phrases we say a thousand times a day? Well, your child hears them a thousand times too! Translating those phrases into a foreign language is a fast and natural way to give your child experience with a foreign language. And if you don't know the language yourself, learn along with your child by working on a new phrase each week...