Hey folks, I have been trying to teach some English to my 2 and half year old daughter. I have asked someone for help in how to talk with her, but I would love more specific things, vocabulary and other ideas. Can I count with your help in putting more words, phrases to that initial draft? I would like you to complete dialogs that expresses complete interactions YOU native speakers have with your children.
A couple of day ago my wife bought play doh, so how can I talk to her about that in English.
Can I say things like that? Please check if I’m doing it right.
-- Hey little honney, “let’s play doh”? / Do you want to play doh?/Shal we play doh? It’s time to play doh? (She already understands “let’s do something phrases” )
-- Yes, daddy….doh (She already calls me daddy)(How should she be able to respond in English, which words should I teach her to respond to that question that appropriate to her age(2,5 y. o.) ).
---What do you want to build/ to make first?
Hello Paulo!
I have a niece who is around 3 years old and she is being brought up in a bilingual environment.
With children, it is always good to have books with pictures in them or there are many interactive applications for children now online so that they can hear words in English, see the pictures and remember the words too.
For example, a book with some fruit and vegetables in it. Go through it with her and watch her repeat after you. If she enjoyed that session, she would start recognising items in the kitchen and start pointing at it and saying what it is!
Always keep it fun and interactive with children is my advice.
Regarding the dialogue that you have with your daughter, I think that is fine. She is responding correctly as well.
Also, I think if you speak another language, there is actually an advantage using 2 languages at the same time when they are young. Surprisingly, especially girls, pick up on it quickly and not get confused.
It is difficult to just generate the types of conversations/elicited responses you could have with your daughter. I would want a specific question. But regarding your scenario, "Let's play doh"-- Playdoh is the brand name of modeling dough that children use to makes things. It has become a common way of referring to any modeling type dough, whether it is that brand or not. To improve that particular sentence, you could say, "Do you want to play with playdoh?", "Do you want to make something with playdoh?", or simply, "Do you want playdoh?"
Age appropriate books will give you vocabulary that you can use with her and it will end up sounding more natural than trying to memorize a script.
Hi Paulo
Those phrases sound fine ,but only one n in the word "honey".
Would you like, do you want , shall we play...? are all good for suggesting something.
It's time to .. is a bit more like you are telling her more than offering but you can say that too.
For @Lutomia: Thanks for your suggestions, I was just taking a look on youtube, your idea was awesome. Thanks
Another thing you could do is if you go to YouTube and type in Preschool Classroom - there are a lot of videos where you can watch preschool classrooms in English of adults interacting with kids and kids playing together...That might be helping in learning helpful phrases too :)
