Learning English at home is
fun, too!
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Introduction
Many times at Go Global we are asked by parents, ‘What should I do at home to support my child’s
English learning?’ Well, to answer that very important question we have produced this very helpful
little guide. Hopefully you will find it gives you the ideas and confidence to successfully support your
child’s English learning, and help them on their journey to the English speaking world.
Q: Is it important to support my
child’s English at home?
Put simply, the richer your child’s experience of
learning English the better. Parents are in an ideal
position to positively influence their child’s attitudes
to learning English, even if they have only basic
English themselves. However, we want to be clear,
if you can’t give home support then the 3 hour
sessions we give at Go Global will still provide a
strong environment for your child to develop their
English abilities.
Q: How should I correct my child?
Developing Fluency - Developing communicative fluency is very important when using English as a
language. Very importantly we don’t want to do anything that demotivates a child when they are
developing fluency and that can include telling them they have made a mistake. Therefore we would
recommend not always correcting them, and when you do - do it sympathetically. It is often better to
give your child the chance of being successfully understood in English communication, particularly if
they aren’t yet confident, than showing them where they are going wrong. Children respond best to
praise and encouragement, so give plenty of that when they get it right. This is true the younger the
child is, and they will have plenty of time later on to develop their accuracy in tense usage and such
like.
Developing Accuracy – There comes a time when if the students are not corrected they will feel
unsupported and lose motivation, at this stage it is best to correct their English usage. Always
remember though, mistakes are part of the process working out how to use English, particularly
grammatical mistakes. If they are older, perhaps 11 years old or above, then the best way to help them
is positively correct them. For example, if your child for example said, “Yesterday, I play football at
school.” Repeat the sentence back to them, but model the correct answer. “Yes that’s right – you
played football at school.” Do this with an appreciative and encouraging tone to minimise any negative
effects.
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Q: How long should we spend doing an activity?
We recommend regular short sessions as the most efficient way to develop your child’s /adolescent’s
English abilities. Doing something for too long can be counterproductive, reducing their interest in
English. For most, a routine of 3 times a week doing 15/20 minutes is ideal. This will be enough to
support their English learning here and at their regular school.
Q: OK, so what can we do at home?
The best place to start is to choose something that allows your child to achieve success as this develops
motivation, and motivation is absolutely the key. It is human nature to be motivated by the things we
are good at, and not want to do things we rarely achieve success with. For a child to be motivated
learning needs to have a challenge to it, but be fun and stress-free.
Whatever the activities you do together they should not be too easy, but not too difficult either. Try to
find a range of activities that are linked to something they already enjoy doing: playing a game, sharing
a book, making a story, watching a video, saying a rhyme, computer games, using an computer tablet
app. The best activities depends on their interests, their age and their level of ability but remember
above all make sure that they have fun with the language.

Sharing a book
– it is still one of the best ways to develop both fluency and accuracy,
and their reading skills of course. It also consolidates grammar structures and helps them
learn new items of vocabulary too.
EFL Readers -There are a wide variety of
readers too, both fiction and non-fiction. SeEd books and MacMillan have readers which
are particularly suitable for Thai children’s
ranges of ability.
Picture dictionary - One of our favourite
books is a picture dictionary because it has a
range of topics, is so open and allows a range
of communicative possibilities. What is he
doing? Where is the…? Can you tell me about
the …? What do you think he is thinking? Why
is she …? How many..? As well as learning
selected items of new vocabulary.
Fiction and non-fiction books are great too, both to read and discuss the ideas.
Oxford Owl – graded, native-speaker high quality readers, now tablet friendly too.
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home
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Using a tablet computer /phone apps – Making learning fun for the young
generation offer means turning towards technology and ‘apps’ really have so much to offer.
There are a wonderful variety of tools which are either free or very cheaply priced. For most
of them the idea is offer a chance to practice the language they learn at Go Global. Here are
some suggestions:
Flash card maker – Flashcard+ Create and save your own flashcards for any subject area or
use any of the sets that others have created. Your children can create cards to help them
study for upcoming tests and quizzes at Go Global or their regular school too.
https://itunes.apple.com/TH/app/id408490162?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/TH/app/id564049336?mt=8
Whiteboard - Make your iPad into a
whiteboard, use your finger to write,
draw and even record your child’s voice.
(So they can hear how they pronounce
English words themselves). This virtual
whiteboard is a great app for helping
your child with challenging concepts.
Write on your iPad using your finger or
stylus and audio record your voice, and
you can immediately play back a tutorial
that can be used over and over.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/showm
e-interactivewhiteboard/id445066279?mt=8Chrome
HTML\Shell\Open\Command
Spelling – SpellingCity – (For all ages).
This app offers practice of the spelling that has been learnt at Go Global and your child’s
regular school. The children can write their own list or use one that is computer generated
for extending their vocabulary.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spellingcity/id538407602?mt=8
Storykit – Younger children can edit and rewrite classic fairy tales on this app.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/storykit/id329374595?mt=8
Blogging -Kid Blog – Easy to create your own blog. Aimed at children 10+, it is so easy to use
that your child can be blogging within minutes of its being set up. For privacy and safety,
students' blogs can only be viewed by inviting friends and classmates.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kidblog/id565951433?mt=8
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Create your own stories- This is a great storytelling app. Your child can use their own
photos or those from the web along with their recorded voice to create a personalized
video that’s ready to share. The free version allows you to use five images, but you can add
more with the paid version if it is a hit.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixntell/id532075424?mt=8
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Toontastic- Another great storytelling app, for more able users of English. This
app is designed to guide tour child through the storytelling process of choosing a
scene, climax, setting, conflict, and characters. You can even choose music to
match the characters’ emotions and create a digital storytelling video that is
shared with authentic global audiences on the online channel ToonTube.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toontastic-free/id404693282?mt=8
Story starters – Great for creating random speaking opportunities. Older students (more
able) love to shake the iPad to come up with story starters for 1 minute stories, vocabulary,
and parts of speech practice exercises. One shake and they never know what you are going
to get!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shake-phrase-fun-words-sentences/id436414534?mt=8
Grammar – Grammaropolis – Older children (11+) will still love these animated characters
whose personalities match their function from the ‘Sly Pronoun’ always trying to replace the
noun to the conjunction who just wants everyone to get along. Your child can earn badges
after following a curriculum map that includes songs, books, videos, and quizzes.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammaropolis/id559851814?mt=8
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1000 Most common words- Fry Words includes the 1000 most common words used for
teaching reading, writing, and spelling. The words are broken up into sets of ten each, a
great resource for the under 10 year olds.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fry-words/id470926345?mt=8
Phonics – Tic -Tac –Toe – O/X linked to phonics – really fun way to practice spelling and
pronunciation of phonetical sounds for under 10 year olds.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phonics-tic-tac-toe-interactive/id465184366?mt=8
Vocabulary - Mad Libs – (Especially good for teenagers). This classic word game comes to
the iPad. Your child can practice their parts of speech and stretch their vocabulary and
loving the funny payoff that is generated at the end!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mad-libs/id326885152?mt=8
Vocabulary – Bluster - This app helps build your child’s vocabulary while they battle the
elements! This has different beginning levels which makes it great for all age ranges.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bluster!/id416160693?mt=8
Visual organizing - Popplet lets your child get all
their ideas out, then categorize and rearrange
them. Their friends can join in too, together they
can do collaborative mind mapping, plan out
projects or reports, record their thoughts, or make
mood boards, plus much more. The free version
allows you to make one Popplet at a time while the
paid version allows you to save and store your
Popplets. Great for teenagers.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poppletlite/id364738549?mt=8
Slide Presentations - Prezi – This app allows your
child to turn out slide-style presentations with flair. With a little modeling they can easily
add text, images, and animations to share what they have learned about any given topic.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prezi/id407759942?mt=8
Speaking – Facetalker - Speaking possibilities are endless with this app. Make still photos
and images talk using this app along with your voice recording. Easy enough for low level
English users. 8 years old and up.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facetalker/id451871237?mt=8
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What else?
‘Post it’ notes - Write out a variety of ‘Post
it’ notes as you take a tour of your home.
Then go back to your living room, handing
your child the notes and see if your child
can label things correctly. Points and time
racing can add to their motivation. For
older children try writing cryptic clues –
e.g. The milk stays fresh in here, (to be
placed on the refrigerator).
Flashcard games - Make some flashcards
(either words and pictures or just
pictures), then attach a game idea such as
football, basketball (or the ideas
presented in the tablet section). On
successful answering of questions your child gets a chance to play throw a basket, score a penalty, etc.
Game boards like snakes and ladders, checkers, etc. can be well utilized in reviewing English. Each roll
of the dice, or each move that is made, you can review something from their course books.
Making a story - Suggest to your child three nouns: a person, a thing and a place and let them make a
story. E.g. a man, a teacup and a castle. And give them one minute to use all three, inside a story.
Award marks out of 10 for effort and ingenuity.
Watching a video - Ask questions about a video that your child knows really well like a Disney movie,
such as, ‘Who is this?’ What did they do? Where are they going? What are they thinking? Who does
she like? What do you think will happen? Ask them to make questions too to test you and see who
wins!
Songs - There are some wonderful English speaking songs on YouTube, see if your child can sing along
to the subtitled karaoke versions.
Saying a rhyme - Find some rhyming words and ask them to make short verses or poems – ‘blue’ and
‘you’ are easy ones to start with.
English Time - For short periods of time everyone in your
home has to use English. Prizes and forfeits can help
motivation here!
Computer games - There are some good free game
resources out on the web. One very easy to use site is ESL
Games World – offering a range of language to practice.
http://www.eslgamesworld.com/
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