How to Teach (Your) Language to Your Child

Some of us have a language that we would love our children to know. We might have wanted to teach it to them when they were very small, but things interfered. Things usually do. Maybe they were so small back then , and your relationship needed so much attention, you felt there was no room there for extra nouns and verbs.  Maybe you had complicated feelings about that precious language, so you didn't feel right using it in public. Maybe it has to do with the children's other parent and their language stories. In any case, there you have it: one child, one language, and what seems like a huge road to cover. And where's the roadmap? Where's the magic method? And what to do with the twisting, unwieldy time, and the way things don't go according to plan?

In the Tligolian School for Languages, we look for unusual solutions, so I hope the tips below offer a slightly different perspective on the existing material.

1. Tell your child that you want to teach them your wonderful language, but do it in such a way that absolutely no expectations are created, not of you, not of your child, not even of the language. You do not want to scare your child and make them think you'll go into a teacher mode. You do not want to make yourself guilty if and when you do not stick to the magic plans you make. No, there should be zero projections onto the future. 

2. All the learning is happening in the moment, right here and right now.  It might mean that you will teach them exactly one word -- this is fine. If this is done without any expectations, that word might just feel at home in your child's  play space. 

3. The process is as much about you as about your child. Make it interesting for you. Why do you want to teach them that language? What about this makes you interested and curious. If you feel bored, stop and find a way to make it interesting. 

4. Learning is also happening when you are not together. The child is learning on their own. So yes, you can get materials and just casually leave them around, but even if you don't do that you have to trust that some learning is happening outside of your control. You are also learning how to teach on your own. Here venting is useful. Vent about things you have not managed to teach them, things you would like to teach them but that seem out of your reach, materials that you would like to have but you don't. Vent in in writing -- and you will have made a nice record of additional materials  without trying to do it.