It is never too early nor too late!

Everybody agrees: The younger a student is, the easier he/ she will pick up a foreign language. Why is that? Children do not care if it is Spanish, German or Chinese they are learning. They do not want to compete in the world economy at this point. The young learner memorizes words and phrases because they are having a good time, they want to participate in the game, they love the rhythm of the song and it is always fun to be silly. As an adult we are too shy to open ourselves to new pronunciations and new ways of thinking. At an older age we have to overcome the fear of making a mistake and saying things wrong. It is not the age that makes it easier or harder to learn a foreign language, it is the reason and purpose. Each

Visiting toddlers in either day cares or private home settings, makes some of my friends and future clients shake their heads: "Those children are not saying anything in English yet, how do you teach German?!"

My answer to that: "Never underestimate a curious learner!" During my very first class with learners that young, I was not afraid of getting down on the floor with them and teach/ learn through playing. After each section, we cleaned up our toys and materials. For every item that was put away in the right bin or container I highly exclaimed a German "danke schön" (thank you). I left the class knowing that everybody had a good time, but was delighted to hear that one girl at her home that night cleaned up her toys, lined up her stuffed animals and told every single one of them: "Danke schön". Be aware that even that you do not get a reaction of your student right away, it sticks to them and comes out when you least expect it.

The great thing about children from birth to age 7 is, that they do not learn from books. They need to experience the matter with all their senses and build a connection. You want to know why we never forget how to ride a bike? I bet nobody achieved that skill from reading. Way back then, we sat in the saddle, our caretakers might have held the balance for a bit, but actually we were on our own pushing the paddles. And that is the same with languages.

One of my favorite teaching supply in a toddler class is a sensory experience:

Either a table like in a daycare setting of large deep bins in a home, children love to touch and feel. Picking safe materials invites youngsters to let the material run through their hands, to smell them, to feel them and to work with them.. The picture about is a snap shot of our spring table. Filled with Easter grass, real flowers, paper flowers and toy trees. Observing the toddlers picking different items I hesitate to take it out of their hands, instead I am chanting sentences using the vocabulary and encourage them to be silly.

Adding a sensory experience to your lesson keeps toddlers interested in learning as well as creates a bond between student and teacher.

When learning an instrument, instructors use the term of muscle memory, which means you practice scales over and over again that your body memorizes what to do without you even thinking about it. It is the same with languages: No matter what age, do not refer to simple flash cards - no matter how fancy they are - use complete sentences, combine the language with at least one different interest area of yours like cooking, music, games or arts to make it more interesting and to keep the frustration and failure out of languages.