What is the Ideal Age to Learn English?

Learning English is something that you really have to do if you want to make it big in today’s world. Between the type of English common in the United States and the type of English common in the United Kingdom, most of the world’s population is represented in terms of people that know how to speak English. All of the major business is transacted in that language and everyone that happens to be rich, successful or otherwise powerful in the world today learned English at some point in their life.

Now that it has been established that learning English is essential, it is time to think about the different times in a person’s life that learning English can be ideal. While there is no one particular ideal age at which to learn English, there are times when it can be better to do so and those times are discussed at length below.

From Birth

The absolutely most ideal age at which learning English can happen is at birth. When a baby speaks their first words, if those words are in English, then English will be the first language that they learn. This also makes it the easiest language for them to learn as many babies never end up learning another language after they have learned their initial one. Some people just have a mental block when it comes to learning languages, which is why English as their first language is absolutely the best way to go.

During Primary Schooling

If a child has not learned English as their first language, then the next best time to get them to learn it would be during the time in their life when they are thinking about doing primary schooling. Primary schooling is extremely important and allows children to expand their knowledge and grow on multiple fronts during the second group of formative years in their life (the first being their pre-school years). Because of the rapid rate at which children tend to learn at this age, English language training is definitely a good idea.

During Secondary Schooling

If a child has gone through the initial and primary school years of their life without learning English, then you will want to make sure that you start them on an English language learning course right away. While secondary school students are still learning a lot, the information that high school gives them is largely specialized information. This is quite different from the formative study they undertake in primary school which in turn means that teaching them something as basic as a new way of speaking is a lot harder to do.

During Post-Secondary Schooling

While a large argument is currently raging across academic circles at which time is better to learn English between secondary and post-secondary schooling, most people tend to believe that post-secondary schooling provides an environment that makes learning a new language a lot easier to do. People are exposed to new ideas and concepts that might completely change the way they look at and think about life in post-secondary school and that makes taking on big new challenges like learning English easier to do than it would be in secondary school.

As an Adult

It is possible for an out of school adult to learn English, but it is at the same time a lot harder to do. The thing that makes it easier for adults to learn English sometimes is the fact that adults that are out of school tend to have a far more disciplined approach to things like this and for that reason have the ability to grasp information pertinent to their life at a relatively quick pace.

(Author: Amy Nutt from http://www.articlesbase.com)

Tips for Improving ESL Listening and Speaking Skills

Instruction in English often does not offer the student the opportunity to speak and converse in English. Many students can read and write English, but have real problems when it comes to holding a conversation. To overcome this, constant practice in listening and speaking will soon give the student confidence to speak easily and fluently.

Have you ever watched a one and a half or two year old child? They are never quiet. Most small children love to make sounds. Sometimes their sounds make no sense, but that doesn’t matter to them. These children are learning to speak their native language.

In learning English as a foreign language, we should remember how the small child learns his or her language. They listen, they copy, and they practice. After saying words many, many times, they come to know what they mean, and they can say them correctly.

Everyone trying to learn English must find daily time to practice and study so that the language becomes automatic.

Tips for Improving ESL (English as Second Language) Listening and Speaking Skills:
Find a conversational English course near your home where you will study with others.
Try to arrange for your employer to sponsor an English course.
Find an English course located near to your workplace.
When choosing the time, be aware of the best learning times for you. Are you a morning or a night person? Try to spend some of your best learning time with studying so that you are not always tired when trying to learn.
Look for an interactive course that would allow you to study on your own in your own time.
If you can read English, look for an interactive course that promotes listening, speaking and understanding.
Practice often
Listen to English radio or TV
Go to English movies
Go out with English speaking friends
Listen to English Whenever You Can!!

In learning English, there are times when it is easy to sit in a room by yourself and read a book out loud. There are other times when this is not possible – when you are busy doing something else, or you are out in a public place. At these times it is good to have some English to listen to. Now it is very common to see people driving their cars, sitting on a bus, or walking down a busy street with earphones. These are times when you can be listening to English. You can even be repeating phrases quietly to yourself.

(Author: Stephen Stocker from http://www.articlesbase.com)

Teaching ESL to Children Using ESL Classroom Games

There are times of the day when special activities such as ESL classroom games are very appropriate. Although the daily school timetable varies from country to country, it is usual for children aged five to nine to have a playtime break during the morning. They stop for lunch around noon and return to class for a time during the afternoon. Regardless of the schedule, many will likely be able to stay on task until the first break but there will be some who sit and dream and others who disturb their friends. The class time directly after the morning break is good learning time. It’s a good time for the teacher to introduce the more difficult parts of the program. The last half hour before lunch, however, is a tired, very low energy time, a time when ESL classroom games can help. The afternoon follows a similar pattern to the two morning periods.

We can assume that in most countries the school day has about three low energy times that everyone feels: children feel it, and teachers feel it. It doesn’t matter if you are teaching the same children in an ESL class all day or if you are seeing them for a short period of time in an English Foreign Language class in their home country. These low energy times are the most challenging for teachers. ESL classroom games can help teachers and students learn through these times.

For children who are beginning to speak English, here is an ESL classroom game that you can prepare. Find pictures of things you have been talking about in the program you are using or in a magazine. Cut them out and you are ready to play!

ESL Classroom Game 1
Give each student a small piece of paper. Hold up one picture and ask one child to name it. (You might want to review the names of all the pictures you are going to hold up before you start.) If the child is right, let them have the picture on their desk for the duration of the game and stamp their small piece of paper with a picture or draw a star on it. If the student is wrong then put the picture behind the others in the pile. Continue with the other pictures. Pay particular attention to the children who are insecure. Ask them about pictures that you think they will know. As they gain confidence they’ll be more successful. Sometime the fear of making a mistake overwhelms them. Another approach is to have the children answer in pairs. A good follow-up activity for this ESL classroom game is to give each child one of the pictures and have them draw it on their small piece of paper and print its name under it.

ESL Classroom Game 2
Give one or two pictures plus a small piece of paper to each student. They should all be given the same number of pictures. They are to listen while you say a sentence about one of the pictures. The student who has the right picture holds it up and gets a stamp or star on their paper of book. This can be followed by having them draw the picture on their small piece of paper and print a sentence or word about it.

(Author: Stephen Stocker from http://www.articlesbase.com)