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Many parents think that reading or writing will help their child learn English better. But what if I told you that the key for your child to master English is to listen more?
If you wanted to learn a new language, you would most likely listen to how others speak. Hearing others speak proper English will allow your child to know the right words to use in sentences and learn new words at the same time.
Here are 3 long term strategies suggested by our Head of Department for English, Ms Ho Ying Ying. The attached videos include subtitles. Click on CC to activate.
1) Listen to audiobooks
There are 3 free audiobook apps you or your child can download and listen to. These books are usually written in proper English so you can rest assured your child will be listening to and learning proper English.
This is also helpful if your child is the type that does not like to read books. Listening to one may interest them and they can listen to it on the go, while they are doing other things or before they go to bed.
These 3 apps are also connected to the national library. Watch the video below for our English HOD, Ms Ho’s explanation on how these apps work and which app is her personal favourite!
2) Singing their favourite songs
When your child watches their favourite movie series or listens to their favourite song, do they sing along too? Did you know that when your child does this, they can learn proper English too? Collocations are often found in the song lyrics which is useful and necessary for Compre Cloze sections in PSLE.
Collocations such as ‘bright idea’ or ‘talk freely’ are common word combinations and essential building blocks of natural-sounding English. They usually take up the majority of the answers in English Compre Cloze sections (this section is 15 marks). This section is usually tough for students as they are not well versed with collocations.
Watch the video below to find out some examples of songs that have collocations in them!
3) Watch English YouTube videos or movies
English videos and movies tend to have proper English so it is also a way for your child to learn English and how they speak. However, we do not recommend watching too much of local movies with Singlish inside as your child might not be able to differentiate between proper English and Singlish.
Watch the video below to know our recommended English YouTube channel that your child can watch!