english tutor for year 1? english as a second language

[olguis]

I've read some archived threads similar to this one, but really need someone's fresh eyes to look at the situation.

My son is in year 1 state primary school which is considered one of the best in the area and everyone seems to be very happy about it. He has been brought to UK when he was 3.5 and has just turned 6. Now, I always thought English would naturally dominate and put my efforts in supporting his native language, in which he can now read and write, and has a very high level generally.

His English was progressing fairly well, and he is doing well at school (that's what I am always told). But recently I started to understand his English really got so poor and is not at the level for his age group. It seems that to mask this, he started taking on a 'clown' behaviour. It just seems he has not progressed well and I am really surprised.

What is it? He is at school for hours and hours every day and still his English is so poor, why? The teachers say he is ok, but I just think he can be so much better and he is not achieving because the language is not progressing well. Is the school not right for him or shall I get a tutor to support his English - but that is kind of ludicrous, as even his phonics is good, but vocabulary is absent... What to be done?

[phonix]

If you're concerned, and even though teacher doesn't necessarily agree, I would still ask the school if it would be possible for extra English tutorials whithin school time.

[phonix]

Does he go on playdates with English speaking friends?
Any extracurricular activities he could take up...drama is a good one for languages (I speak from experience)!!

[olguis]

Re:phonix

thank you for answering!

I should do more play dates with English speaking friends.. And thanks for advice about drama. Will look around.

I just find the situation so strange. Normally people complain it's hard to keep the mother tongue up in another country. And here something totally opposite.

[granted]

Obvious question - you do all speak English at home, don't you?

[olguis]

re: granted.

no, we don't. we speak our native tongue, - and it's less in terms of hours than school anyway. how come english is not winning...

[JustForThisOne]

not sure who gave you the idea that english should be winning
you should really make an effort and speak english at home.
Having said that if neither you or your partner are english mother tongue speakers and you have never spoken to him in english it is just very normal that the child is a bit behind.

[phonix]

English is not "winning" because it's not his mother tongue. Give him time, he's been in this country roughly half his little life, his first words were in another language!!!
I strongly disagree with JFTO above, you should stick to using your family's language at home!! Believe me, the time will come way too soon when you'll worry about the exact opposite and complain about him forgetting his mother tongue.
In the meantime, try and find out exactly how much speaking they do and in what form in his class. You often hear that in key stage 1 teachers tend to overdo TTT (teacher talk time) and fail to create enough opps for children to express themselves at lenght.

[JustForThisOne]

sorry my last sentence was missing a bit
it should have been
Having said that if neither you or your partner are english mother tongue speakers THIS MAY NOT BE A GOOD IDEA and IF you have never spoken to him in english it is just very normal that the child is a bit behind.

what phonix says makes more sense anyway

phonix are you a teacher/language therapist by any chance? or do you live in a multi lingual house hold?
if so I may have a burning question for you
(sorry OP to hijack your thread)

[Bucharest]

No, you should not be speaking English at home if it is neither of you and your husband/partner's native language.

Sounds to me like your son is doing fine...the teacher would have mentioned it if he weren't, I'm sure.

I would just encourage friendships, playdates, clubs and other social activities.

And the television will help as well

[Bucharest]

Also, what bit of "English" do you mean when you say he isn't very good? Speaking? Or writing and reading?

Dd is bilingual English/Italian and her English reading and writing is well behind her Italian (because we are in Italy, and because Italian is phonetically regular whereas English isn't) She'll get there though!

[kodokan]

Sounds like perfectly normal development, especially for a boy as they find it very easy to play at this age without really speaking - apart from 'bang!' and 'kapow!' - girls tend to be more verbal.

We're English, but my kids have been in French-speaking school for 2.5 years; my youngest is 6, so a similar age to your son.

Based on my kids and about a dozen others I've seen come and go, the popular notion of 'oh, how marvellous, they'll be fluent in 6 months' is a total fantasy. My daughter speaks beautiful French without a trace of accent or error, but she cannot express complicated thoughts using things like the conditional, and has nowhere near the vocab in French as in English.

But this is all fine - Google 'stages of second language acquisition', and you'll see that after a couple of years a child should be at a good conversational level on familiar topics (ie, repetitive school stuff). Years 3-5 are when they reach near-native level; this is where we are now and the improvements are still coming month by month, especially now she is learning to read and picking up more vocab and sentence structure outside of the daily classroom stuff.

And no, don't switch to English at home - that idea was discredited decades ago. Stick with it, make opportunities for your son to 'have' to speak (the breakthrough with my slightly reluctant 8 yr old son was getting him a one to one tutor who 'apparently' didn't speak English, so he had no alternative :-). It'll come good.

[Colourworld]

I have come to this link today www.readingforlife.org.uk/talk-to-your-baby-in-your-own-language

[phonix]

JFTO - sent you a private one...

[seeker]

My niece and nephew are half Spanish and came to England aged 4 and 9, both with a little English. Db and Dsil took a conscious decision to speak Spanish at home. The children's English came on slowly but surely - but it was certainly more than 3 years before they were bilingual. In fact I think it was probably more like 5 years before that happened, and they still, at 11 and 15, speak accented English, although it's perfect.

I would relax, if I were you and just wait. So long as he is doing well and is happy at school, the English will come.

[JustForThisOne]

ta phonix

seeker when you say half spanish do you mean half spanish / half english but spoke only spanish at home?

[gabid]

Ds (5 3/4)speaks German to me and his sister (2) and English to dad. I have always been very consequent and only spoke German to him whereas dad just speaks English. I think Ds's understanding in German is better than in English as he always chooses me to read him stories and with DVD's he will always opt for German.

His teacher says his teacher says his English is fine but he could improve on his listening skills as he tends to drift off - maybe he finds some things hard to understand? My Ds either drifts off or behaves silly if he doesn't like or understand something.

[seeker]

JustForThisOne - yes. My db is completely bilingual, but his wife speaks OK but not excellent English. So Spanish was their home language - and still is, if it comes to that. All their education was in Spanish until they came to England, so the only exposure to English they had was through visits to relatives here.

[JustForThisOne]

thanx for feedback seeker and gabid
5 years to be fluent sounds an awufull lot but hey ds will still be just 11, as long as he is totally at easy with the language by secondary school should be ok... i hope

[JustForThisOne]

ufff wish i checked spelling before posting esp on threads about language

[GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh]

I agree that not having a wide vocabulary/range of expression isn't necessarily a concern at this stage. It's more important that the foundations of understanding and communication are there. Complex structures and a more evolved vocabulary will come in time providing a good base has been acquired.

Remember that the books he's reading at school are very simple. If you compare the books you read with him in his mother tongue and the books he reads by himself without your help you'll probably find there's quite a big difference.

If he isn't exposed to 'home' English that's an entire chunk of life, vocabulary, communication etc which is missing, just like school language will be in your native tongue. You can encourage that by playdates, TV and, later on, additional English books. I feel a tutor would be overkill but what about someone - possibly a student with child are experience - who will come and play games, read and talk with him in English?

We overestimate the complexity of language used in school and underestimate the amount of new language acquired at home even once children are at school but I'd keep going as you are. Get ahead while you can because English will come to dominate.

Re: school they should have identified him as an EAL student and be able to provide additional support if necessary and differentiate for him.

[GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh]

I agree that not having a wide vocabulary/range of expression isn't necessarily a concern at this stage. It's more important that the foundations of understanding and communication are there. Complex structures and a more evolved vocabulary will come in time providing a good base has been acquired.

Remember that the books he's reading at school are very simple. If you compare the books you read with him in his mother tongue and the books he reads by himself without your help you'll probably find there's quite a big difference.

If he isn't exposed to 'home' English that's an entire chunk of life, vocabulary, communication etc which is missing, just like school language will be in your native tongue. You can encourage that by playdates, TV and, later on, additional English books. I feel a tutor would be overkill but what about someone - possibly a student with child are experience - who will come and play games, read and talk with him in English?

We overestimate the complexity of language used in school and underestimate the amount of new language acquired at home even once children are at school but I'd keep going as you are. Get ahead while you can because English will come to dominate.

Re: school they should have identified him as an EAL student and be able to provide additional support if necessary and differentiate for him.

[ZZZenAgain]

if you are concerned, try to arrange for him to spend some time each week with an educated adult native-speaker of English. It needn't cost that much and would make quite a difference after say 6 months I should think, if you get the right person.

He doesn't need to do worksheets and English vocab books as such but perhaps this person could read to him (quality dc's lit as opposed to all the fantasy fast-food rubbish that gets churned out which no doubt he'll devour anyway by himself). He needs good books read to him and also good books for him to read aloud - and someone who can talk to him about them in a manner that widens his vocabulary. It is just what you would be doing with him quite naturally if English were your mother tongue and what you no doubt do all the time in your own language without even really thinking about it - widening his vocabulary, improving his grasp of your native tongue.

[seeker]

"5 years to be fluent sounds an awufull lot but hey ds will still be just 11, as long as he is totally at easy with the language by secondary school should be ok... i hope confused"

Olgula - they were fluent well inside 5 years - it tool about 5 years to be bilingual.

Doe he watch English TV?

[JustAnother]

you should not speak English at home if your DP and you are not natives. He'll loose your native language and end up with not a perfect grasp of English. I speak from experience, as my DH, who is English, tried to help my son's Spanish by speaking to him in Spanish, and they now both make the same mistakes. I spend my life correcting them. If he needs help, the school should offer it. Otherwise, give him a bit more time and make sure he has playdate and watches English videos. You'll soon be surprised how quickly he learns.