Nisha Daniel

Nurturing your child to love (English) language and become an effective communicator is one of the best gifts you could bestow upon her. Strong linguistic skills are an asset and the passport to success in academics, higher education and workplaces. Here are some simple tips to develop your child’s communication skills.

Watch your words

When you describe something, use an expressive word to communicate vividly. For example, instead of saying, “The movie was good,” you could say, It was spine-chilling or hilarious. Use of uncommon descriptive words will broaden your child’s vocabulary, because children absorb vocabulary very quickly and retain what they hear.

Get children hooked on books

With the internet, gaming and television demanding their attention, children aren’t reading as much as previous generations. You should try a few tricks to get them hooked on books. You could narrate an exciting story at bedtime, and then give them the book telling the same story. Or, you could get them books that have been turned into movies. Ensure she watches the movie first. This will arouse her interest in reading a book featuring familiar characters. Get them story books with their favourite cartoon characters. Once your child is hooked to reading, vocabulary and grammar will automatically improve.

Develop early reading skills

Websites such as starfall.com teach early reading skills through simple word games that preschoolers can play, with assisted reading. For example, two games might identify a limited number of words. Then the child can be encouraged to read a story featuring those words. If she is unable to read a word, all she needs to do is click the word, and it will be read aloud.

Using word games

Try solving crossword puzzles and other word puzzles together on lazy afternoons. “My kids always hated the dictionary, but after we started playing scrabble, they are forever visiting dictionary. com,” says Shivani, mother of two preteen boys. Vacations are also great for games like word building and the travel version of scrabble.

Creative writing

Writing limericks, poems and stories can be fun. There are plenty of free resources on the internet, including story starters, creative writing lessons for beginners and more. Encourage children to maintain personal diaries or a blog. Good writing skills will help her in all subjects, and later in her career.

Spoken English

If your child’s spoken English skills are not good, speak English at home whenever possible, or enrol her in hobby classes where good English is spoken.