How to Make the Most of Traveling Abroad with Your Children
As spring nears, many parents are thinking ahead to vacation destinations. There are of course many things to consider when planning a family trip. Details like passports and packing lists aside, you may also want to consider how you can use this experience to boost your child's language learning. Here are a few tips.
First off, while flying to another continent may be an exciting adventure, when seeking a vacation destination that also immerses your child in another language, remember that you can think close too. Puerto Rico is a fun and kid-friendly place, as is French-speaking Quebec (and particularly its capital city, Montreal), and Cozumel, Mexico. In all of these places your child can be introduced to a new and vibrant language environment. And because of their proximity, these destinations may be more affordable and easier to fit into a quick trip. That certainly doesn't mean they're not full of opportunities for your children and yourself to have a wonderful, culturally immersive experience.
Secondly, while it's obviously most useful and perhaps most inspiring to your children to take them to a country where the language that they're currently learning is spoken, the mere fact of exposure to a new language environment—any language—can be thrilling. The chance to bring your child into a completely immersive environment perhaps for the first time is such a powerful opportunity to demonstrate the reality of a world beyond English, the reality of a wider world of language. But how do you get the most out of this eye-opening experience with your family?
Some Tips Before You Go
One way you can really make the most of your trip is by going to a local bookstore or library to acquire books, CDs and even DVDs that will introduce your child to the culture, customs and people native to your destination. Learn about some of the most popular children's stories and national legends and get to know what the music sounds like. Encourage your child to imagine what you'll be seeing. Maybe even prepare a meal of some local dishes.
And of course, many people on vacation take lots of pictures and even keep a journal of what they saw and what they did. Make sure you bring along a disposable camera that you can let your child play with and some drawing paper—there may be nothing so indelible about your trip as the pictures you and your child take away from it.
Be Active!
Try to model an inquisitive and curious approach to the country's language and culture. Even if you are traveling in a country you are familiar with, let your child see how interested you are. And not just interested in its landmarks, museums and spectacles, but also in its small details—street-side vendors, traffic signs, and anything that you pass by that might provide a moment of novelty and education. Go to the market. Go to the park. Eat in restaurants frequented by locals when possible. Talk to people! Make an effort to speak the language whenever you are able. Try not to just pass through the streets, but to engage with them. This makes the city—and the language—alive for your child, even if most of your own communication is in English.
Make the Familiar New
Draw connections to everyday items and activities that you have and do at home. Emphasizing continuity and familiarity while abroad is a way of setting up the potential for reviewing and remembering the country and the language once you're back home. It is also a way of playing up the differences in language—it's an easier lesson for both you and your child to learn or review a word for something your child already knows and is familiar with than to introduce them to something entirely new along with its new word.
Most helpful will be using greetings, asking for things politely, transportation, colors, objects, foods and numbers—all readily applicable at your hotel, at the markets, stores, cars, trains and buses. Other phrases like: "may I have," "how much is," "what is," plus counting out the number of things, the time of day, day of the week, the daily weather, etc. will all be very practical to use and build your child's enjoyment and her sense of power using language.
Zoo's Clues
If you are in the mood for something more exotic, remember that animals are incredibly appealing to children and a zoo can hold their interest for hours. A zoo provides a premier opportunity to learn and practice some new vocabulary in a very kid-friendly environment. Look at the signs and say the names of the animals with your child. See if you can visit a zoo while you are abroad. It will be an experience you and your children will never forget.
A trip to a foreign country can be a pivotal experience in the growth and education of your child. It can make what they're learning real to them. And with each word that comes alive to your child—each word he hears being used not for teaching, but for living—your child will gain confidence and assurance in himself and in his new language.
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