Many of my friends have asked me what is the first thing they should do to start their children's English.
My answer is: First, download dozens of classic English children's songs and play them on a loop at home.
No matter how old your child is, 0 years old, 3 years old, 6 years old, from the moment you have the idea of English enlightenment, download the English children's songs and play them to your child, this is the easiest first step.
The core methods of English enlightenment are in these 5 categories:
Parent-child English, picture books, animation, children's songs, games.
All the various tricks on the market can be categorized into these, and even training institutes, tutoring classes, and children up to the age of 6 in native English-speaking countries mainly use these methods to learn English.
Among them, Parent-Child English is in the first place, and there is no limitation of time, place, or tools to use it.
There is also no requirement for the child to use it from birth, it is the most powerful and effective tool.
However, it requires parents to have a high level of English proficiency, and this alone limits most Chinese parents.
The three methods, picture books, animation, and games, require a certain level of cognitive comprehension, and can generally only be used after the child is 1-2 years old.
In addition, to read picture books, you need to prepare the book, but also need to find adults and children to focus on the time period, more or less inconvenient.
Animation, in order to protect the eyesight, it is recommended to wait at least until the child is 2 years old before watching, the time is also limited to less than 30 minutes each time, no more than 1 hour a day.
Games are even more demanding, as they require the child to understand the rules of the game, the adult to interact in parent-child English, to design the game segments, to prepare the game props, and to have the energy and leisure to play with the child, all in all, a lot of constraints.
And then there's English children's songs, which are the most loyal and unfussy. Even if a child doesn't understand it, he or she can still enjoy it.
Even if the parents don't know any English, they can learn a few English songs by listening to them over and over again and singing them to their children. Even if you can't learn a single song, you can use a player like your cell phone and play it for your child.
You can play English children's songs to your child at any time outside of bedtime, whether your child is breastfeeding, playing, fidgeting, crying, at home, on the road in traffic, etc.
All you need to do is listen to your child's English songs. All you need is a mouth or a cell phone, nope. Convenient, very convenient.From croaking newborns, to toddlers, to quirky kindergartners, you can be a fan of English children's songs.
Even elementary school children can find pleasure in English children's songs, as is the case with my neighbor's 8-year-old Ladia, who is in second grade, and schools in Britain and the United States, anyway, have included a large number of children's songs and rhymes in their elementary school textbooks.
My son Oly's early childhood education at 2, his daycare at 3, and his tutoring at 4 are all about English, and children's songs and rhymes.
It can be said that children's songs are the first key to the world of English.
The key to learning any language is to learn the sounds of that language.
Regarding English enlightenment, the English sounds that children can access contain songs, dialogues, TV, radio, all kinds of stories and other audio.
Among them, the dialogues, TV, radio, and all kinds of storytelling audio, the cognitive level of the child, and language comprehension requirements, without the language foundation can not understand, and can not enjoy it, only as advanced material.
Only children's songs and rhymes are both the sound of language and good music.
Marx said that music is the second language of mankind.
Subconsciously, human beings love to listen to music, which brings a sense of stability, peace and comfort that is irresistible.
When I go out for a walk in the evening, I always see a few little babies in diapers in the lively square dance team, swaying enthusiastically to the music.
Do they know what that music is singing? Of course not, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying it.
That's the beauty and pleasure of music, which can be appreciated without explanation.
Children's songs and rhymes are characterized by a sense of rhythm and cadence that makes them catchy to sing and read, a language with music.
Therefore, English children's songs are sung English, which integrates boring words and sentences into cheerful music, with beautiful melodies, strong rhythms, distinctive rhymes, and high repetition, which is in line with children's natural preferences, and which are enjoyable to listen to even if you don't understand the meaning of the lyrics.
For example, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a nursery rhyme with a soft melody, crisp instrumental accompaniment, and catchy rhyming lyrics.
Children have a natural affinity for such rhymes.
When a child enjoys listening to English children's songs, this feeling becomes contagious, and the child feels that the words and sentences sound good, even if he doesn't understand them. This good feeling lays the foundation for a better listening experience in the later stages of learning English.
In fact, it's not just the kids who love English rhymes; I'm getting more and more into them myself. Even my big brother, who is almost 40 years old and a big man, was very interested in listening to the English nursery rhymes and said that they were really good.
So, even if we put aside all the "utilitarian learning", we should always play the classic tunes that have been passed down through the centuries to our children, so that their ears can enjoy them.
Of course, if you really want to learn English with English children's songs, it's not enough to just listen to them, it's better to break down the lyrics so that your child can understand what they mean. But listening blindly is the first step.
Currently, there are thousands of English children's songs and rhymes available. Which ones should I choose for my child?
In fact, no matter how many nursery rhymes there are on the market, we just need to choose the most classic and widely circulated ones.
Classics are time-tested gems.
Another advantage of choosing the classics is that you can find more children's songs to go with them, such as picture books, animations, games, and quiet books, which makes it easier to refine the nursery rhymes at a later stage.
In order to choose the right rhymes, I not only researched all the nursery rhyme series, but also spent money on several nursery rhyme courses, and combined with my son Oly's practice, I came up with the following "60" rhymes that I think are the most suitable for Chinese children to learn.
If your child can learn, internalize, and apply these 60 rhymes, you'll save yourself a year of tutoring.
1. Twinkle Twinkle Star
2. Rock-A-Bye-Baby
3. Hush Little Baby
4. Sweet Dreams
5. Lavender's Blue
6. Bye, Baby hunting
7. Baby hunting
1. Goodbye Song
2. Baby Shark
3. Finger Family
4. One Little Finger
5. Walking Walking
6. Teddy Bear
7. Open and Shut
8. Clap Your Hands
9. Pat-A-Cake
10. Hokey Pokey
11. Make a Circle
12. London Bridge
13. Bridge13. Itsy Bitsy Spider
14. Where Is Thumbkin
15. I'm a Little Teapot
16. Five Little Monkeys
17. Rock Scissors Paper
18. The Wheels On The Bus
19. If You're Happy and You Know it
20. Head Shoulder Knees and Toes
20.
1. ABC Song
2. Apple Song
3. B-I-N-G-O
4. Snow Flakes
5. Jack and Jill
6. What's This
7. I Love You
8. Love You
8. Skidamarink
9. Good Morning
10. My Teddy Bear
11. This is the way
14. Five Little Ducks
15. The muffin man
16. Are you sleeping
17. Hey Diddle Diddle
18. Down By The Bay
18.
19. Down By The Station
20. Baa Baa Black Sheep
21. Row Row Row Your Boat
22. Rain Rain Go Away
23. I Can Sing a Rainbow
24. 24. Hickory, Dickory, Dock
25. The Sailer Went to Sea
26. Happy Birthday To You
27. It's Time to Take a Bath
28. Mary Had a Little Lamb
29. One Two Buckle My Shoe
30. One Potato, Two Potatoes
31. Once I Caught A Fish
32. Going On a Bear Hunt
33.
33. Old Macdonald Had a Farm
34. Have You Ever SeenA Lassie
----
All of these songs can be found on music apps. Songs can be found on music software, I mainly use QQ music.
And then I'll give you a more hassle-free method. If you don't want to download one song at a time, just search for the following albums.
These series of children's songs are very famous English children's song albums, well-produced, comprehensive coverage, including the most classic children's songs. The song list is basically the same for each series, with different styles, melodies, and singers.
In particular, Super Simple Song
is the best for non-English speaking children, and each song is a masterpiece that should be taken in its entirety, in conjunction with a video, for the best possible results.
Hurry up and start your child's journey to English children's songs! You'll be pleasantly surprised!