British researchers compared English learning between Greek children and adults and found that children's only advantage is that they make faster progress than adults in learning word pronunciation. On the other hand, adults learn English much faster than children, especially in vocabulary accumulation and grammar acquisition. There are only about seven words that children can really learn and use flexibly in a week. The acquisition of grammar is based on the accumulation of a large number of words. Even for children whose mother tongue is English, it takes about 28 months to acquire simple grammar from the first 20 months of word practice. For the more difficult tense learning, the learning speed is slow. Moreover, it is difficult for many children to pronounce because their physical development has not reached the corresponding level. For example, the /s/ sound, even children whose mother tongue is English, can't pronounce it accurately until they are seven or eight years old.
For learning a second foreign language, it is very important to get in touch with the language environment, that is, to keep practicing. If it is still better in Hong Kong, because many parents will communicate with their children in English, and their Filipino maids and sisters also use English, so there are more opportunities to practice. Therefore, many children can understand English news and repeat it in English after graduating from kindergarten and entering primary school. For mainland children, due to the lack of language environment, it is difficult to apply what they have learned in various language centers outside to real life. Unless they can provide a language environment at home or school, the effect will be minimal.
In addition to the lack of language environment, children's mother tongue will also affect the learning of a second foreign language. First, the influence of pronunciation, such as Sichuan people pronouncing /n/ this sound (noodle) and Hong Kong people pronouncing R sound (red), will all be influenced by their own language. But grammatically, the classic chestnut is a 4-year-old Chinese-English hybrid who said that he was bitten by a mosquito. Therefore, it requires English teachers to know children's mother tongue, understand what they mean, correct grammar immediately, and know where their pronunciation mistakes and grammar come from.
For English early education, if parents can't provide a continuous environment to support English learning, it will have little effect. Whether foreign teachers are necessary depends on their own teaching level. In order to save face and attract parents, many early education institutions randomly find a few poor vagrants who were smoking marijuana at the gate of the Youth Hostel the day before, sing songs casually and play games to interact. There was a child before, and her parents took her to an early education institution. The classroom was very noisy. Every time a foreign teacher encourages a child, he will make an exaggerated sound, which makes the child very afraid of noisy and crowded occasions and has social problems. She didn't speak at school and got selective silence.
If parents want their children to learn English, they can study with them when they have enough time and energy. Set aside some family time every week. One of my parents is a teacher and the other is a child. Let's practice English spelling, watch some English cartoons, learn to sing some English children's songs and play some small games to consolidate the effect. In life, when you encounter what you have learned, you should arouse your child's memory in time and consolidate it in real situations. Learning is carried out in life, not in class.
Author: Pan Da
Link:/question/19787166/answer /323307 14.
Source: Zhihu.
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