👶 How to Speak English with Kids - REAL Conversation with a 2-year-old

The English Like a Native Podcast is a free listening resource for intermediate and advanced

English learners. Bonus episodes and transcripts are available to Plus members and English

courses can be found on my  website Englishlikeanative.co.uk

This is not your typical English language learning resource. There are no textbooks,

no grammar rules, just the weird and wonderful version of English that you will hear spoken

in the UK. So tune in for your daily dose of very ordinary English chatter with a very

ordinary English girl.

I'm your host Anna and today I'm having a conversation with a two-year-old. Not just

any two-year-old, this is my two-year-old. So I have two children. At the moment, September

2023, I have a four-year-old, Jacob, and a two-year-old, Caspian. Now, because I'm a

mother and because I'm teaching English online, I do get asked quite often by other parents

how should they speak to their children in a second language.

So many of you are keen for your children to grow up with the advantage of having multiple

languages and it is easier for children to learn a language.

So introducing a second language at a young age is a great idea, but how do you go about

it? Well, I'm going to share these little conversations that I've had with Caspian with

you, and I will be releasing the video of this particular podcast episode. So I encourage

you to watch that because I will provide the subtitles on screen for you. Because Caspian

definitely does need a translator at this age. Um, there's lots of mispronunciations.

He's not terribly clear. So I, I do encourage that you go over to the YouTube channel English

Like a Native and look out for that video.

But, the first of my tips on how to speak English with your child is just to encourage

conversation wherever you can. Now, I encourage 

conversation by asking,  lots and lots of questions.

Any kinds of questions, any question you can think of, ask. Open-ended questions are great

because they, you know, allow the child to really open up and start talking rather than

just saying 'Yes', 'No', or giving a simple one worded answer.

But just asking questions,  it gets the conversation 

going. And once the conversation is in full

flow, then continuing the conversation by asking more and more questions is really helpful.

And you'll hear that in the conversation I'm going to share with you now.

What is it Casper?

There's three.

Three what?

One, two, three.

Three what?

Three catfish.

Three catfish?

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Do you want to see?

I do want to see. Show me. Where are they?

Um, there's one. There's one. And... And... Where's the other one? Where's the other one,

Mummy?

I don't know, darling. Maybe he's hiding. Maybe he's playing hide and seek. Do you like

looking at the fish?

Yeah.

Yeah. Which one's your favourite fish?

Um... The shrimp fish.

The shrimp fish? Yeah.

Okay, so you like the shrimp best?

That one...

What else is in the fish tank?

Um. We've got catfish, and shrimp. What else?

And, and, and.

What has a shell?

Um. That snail!

That snail, yeah!

It's sucking!

Let me see your fin... see your fin... point your finger!

You want me to point to it with my finger?

Oh yeah!

It's sucking your finger.

It's sucking my finger! Ahhh!

No! It's in the fish tank!

It's in the fish tank, so it can't really suck my finger. We were just pretending.

Yeah. Yeah.

Now the second tip I'm going to share with you is to repeat what your child says to you,

especially when they're younger, when they're harder to understand, maybe they're not quite

phrasing things properly or their pronunciation is, is really hard to understand.

I find that repeating what they tell me both gives them confidence that they've communicated

with you. So they're confident that they have said it and you've heard it. And that you

are 100 percent attentive to them. But it also helps them to realise where their mistakes

may be, you know, on a subconscious level.

So if there's a slight mispronunciation and I repeat exactly back to them what they've

just said, then they pick up on that correction automatically, especially over a period of

time. And then slowly they start to make that correction themselves naturally. And this

isn't about shaming or telling them they're wrong.

I never say to them,

You're saying it wrong.

I never give them a hard time. I just repeat what they say. And they hear that there may

be a difference or a correction and they do that naturally. They pick it up naturally.

They're very good at noticing those subtle differences. So lots of repetition.

Do you like nursery?

No.

Come and tell me. Come and sit on my lap. Come and tell me. Come here.

I don't like going to nursery.

Why not?

Because I don't want to.

What do you do at nursery?

Um, I go to nursery last time but I didn't like it.

You didn't like it?

No.

But you always seem to have fun when I come and get you. You play with jigsaw puzzles

and you have a kitchen there, don't you? Where you make food, and you do crafts and painting.

What else do you do?

Um. Do you have a garden?

Yeah.

Yeah? Is it a big garden?

Yeah.

Does it have a slide?

No.

No. What does it have in the garden? Sand?

Yeah.

Yeah? What else?

Um, down garden.

A downstairs garden and an upstairs garden?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Three gardens.

Three gardens. There's one and there's one.

Oh now you're looking at the fish again.

The third tip is to give them space to find their words but at the same time also being

ready when you can see that they really can't find the words or they don't know how to say

what they want to say, then you're also there to catch them and to help them, maybe by providing

a couple of options of possible answers, or, you know, just asking them another question,

rewording what you've just said, but initially giving them space, you'll hear that Caspian

is umming a lot because he's trying to think about the word that he wants.

So I don't jump in too quickly, I try and give him the space to find that word unless

I can see that he's really struggling to get there or maybe he's getting distracted and

then I'll try and guide him a little bit.

Look at my magnetiles.

You want me to look at your magnetiles?

Yeah, look at this house. Did you build this house?

Yeah.

Wow, it's brilliant, isn't it?

Yeah, let's knock it down.

You want to knock it down?

Yeah.

Oh no, but it's so good.

Oh.

Where's the door?

Um, there.

There's the door. What else? Tell me about this house.

Um. Who lives in this house?

Uh, Caspian?

Caspian lives in this house.

Yeah.

Yeah?

And I can do this one.

And you're building it, making it bigger?

Yeah.

Right. Wow. What shape is that?

Um, green.

What shape is it? Is it a square or a circle or a triangle?

Triangle.

Very good.

So my other tips are to not shy away from using big words. Obviously when they're tiny

babies, you're just going to be using the basic words, but as they start to grow, you

know, they really are a sponge. So the wider the vocabulary that you surround them with,

the more words they're going to onboard.

Obviously, you know, complicated concepts might be a bit tricky. So I always try and

keep things relatively basic when it comes to concepts, but I don't shy away from using

big words. And I find that Jacob is particularly interested in learning what things mean. So

if I say a word that he doesn't understand, he asked me, what does this mean? Or he'll

remember it and ask me later. And then he'll try and use those big words and phrases. Caspian's

just arrived in my office. Can you come here Casper? Yeah. What are you doing?

Um, I'm coming.

You've come in my office?

Yeah.

Why did you come in my office?

Because I do want to come in your office.

Do you like it here?

Yeah.

Why?

Because I do.

What can you do here?

Um, I can sit.

You can sit?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Kiss. Mwah! Thanks, buddy.

Mummy I love you to Legoland and back.

Oh, darling, I love you to Legoland and back too.

We both love us to Legoland and back.

We both love each other to Legoland and back. Are you going to go now? You say, say bye

bye. I wanted to sit on here.

Tip number five is give lots of praise. I, I try to give as much praise to my children

as I can within reason, as long as it's deserved. 

I don't just praise them  for sitting and breathing.

I praise them for trying hard and making an effort.

You know, children love attention. They crave attention. In the first instance, they want

positive attention, but if they don't get enough of that, then they'll do whatever it

is to get any kind of attention, which can lead to negative behaviours because that brings

in a form of attention, even if it's being told off.

So giving lots of praise, especially when they're doing something that you want to encourage

them to do.

For example, I want my children to be very independent and to be involved in the housework.

I want them to have a respect for their own environment. And so rather than me saying,

Go and sit down or go and play, get out of my way and I'll do everything,

or

Come here and I'll get you dressed, I'll put your shoes on, I'll do your coat.

I try to encourage them to do their own. And now initially they, they push back and they

complain and they say,

Oh, I can't do it. I need help.

And I am there to help them if they need it, but I encourage them to do it themselves.

And when they do it, when they try to do it, I praise them. And so if I was teaching my

children English as a second language when we're doing anything in English, then I'd

be praising them for making an effort, for giving it a go.

And also being very wary not to make a big deal out of mistakes that they may make. So

it's okay to correct mistakes, to guide them 

towards the right words or  the right pronunciation.

You know, giving them a little helping hand, but saying to them,

Oh, that's wrong. Don't say that.

Or telling them they just made a mistake could lead them to shut down and not want to try

again in future. So just being very mindful, not to highlight their mistakes, but just

giving them lots of praise for trying and making an effort.

 A B C D E F G H

I J K L M N O P

Q R S T U V W X Y and Z. Now I A B C D poo.

 Casper.

I sing again A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y and Z.

Now I know my ABCs. Won't you sing along with me?

 Casper, do you know any other songs?

Yeah.

What songs do you know?

Um, all the songs.

All the songs?

Yeah.

And my final and probably biggest tip is just to have fun with them. So anything that involves

enjoyment. is always going to be more effective. So with my kids, we play lots of games, we

sing lots of songs, we do lots of role play.

They will just suddenly tell me that I'm a tickle monster, or I am a magic statue, or

I'm a doctor, or I'm the dentist, or whatever it is, I'm a tiger. I'm a ghost. They just

decide what the character is, what the game is, and I play along with it. And we have

so much fun doing this kind of role play and singing songs and all this kind of stuff.

So just enjoy it. Don't worry too much about whether you're using the right words or teaching

them in the right way. Just have fun. You know, I have to admit, I often say things

that don't really make sense in terms of my grammatical structure or whatever. When I'm

talking to the kids, I occasionally will say things wrong.

I'll give them the wrong sentence structure, but it doesn't matter. We're just having a

good time. And at the end of the day. Life is short. So just enjoy yourselves, enjoy

your children, and enjoy speaking English.

Until next time, from Caspian and I take very good care and goodbye.

Help you. What's happened?

I want to go on your lap...

You want to go on that?

Because that one is some lava.

Oh, the floor is lava?

Yeah.

So you need to go on my lap?

Yeah.

Oh no. My feet are burning. Ow. It's okay. I'll keep you safe. Are you okay now?

Yeah.

Yeah. You are not scared, are you?

No.

No.

Do you need a doctor? I've hurt my arm. Ouch. Are you a doctor?

Yeah.

Yeah. Hello, doctor Caspian. What are you gonna do to me? My arm hurts.

I'm going to put a blue plaster on you.

You're gonna put a blue plaster on me?

Yeah.

Oh, thank you. Oh, I think I need some magic cream. Oh, it hurts so much there.

There's some cream. Okay. Do I need a, a needle?

Yeah.

Yeah. Is it gonna hurt?

No.

Promise?

It's, it's a little needle.

A little needle.

No sharps.

No sharps on it. Okay.

No.

Oh. No.

No.

You have to close your eyes.

Close my eyes and be brave?

Yeah.

Okay. Oh, I didn't feel that.

No

Okay, now you can put the blue plaster on. Oh, that feels so much better. How long is

it going to take until I can take the plaster off?

Um, it's going to feel better.

It's going to feel better very soon?

Yeah.

Okay, thank you doctor.