How to Teach a 3-Year-Old Kid to Speak English: Tips and Techniques

Although English is not the mother language of many of us, it has become the most widely spoken language. One of the major reasons for this is that it connects people from all over the world belonging to different cultures, ethnicities and speaking different languages. These days, many people avail the services of spoken English classes and other corporate English training programs.

Kids are like parrots. They speak what they hear. Hence, certain interesting methods can be used to instil the habit of speaking grammatically correct English from a young age, which would, in turn, help a long way. If you keep wondering how to teach a 3-year-old kid to speak English, worry not! We have come to your aid with some easy and effective solutions. Read along to find what they are!

English is Fun

Tips on How to Teach a 3-Year-Old Kid to Speak English

We have carefully collected some simple and engaging tips for you to ensure your child picks English words and phrases with ease.

1. EPR - Enthusiasm, Patience, and Routine

It is okay if you cannot speak perfect English yourself. The first and most important thing is your enthusiasm towards the objective of teaching your child how to speak English. Your enthusiasm and encouragement will boost your child’s confidence. Patience is the key to success, in this case. You have to allow your child the time they need to start picking words. Set a daily routine for English learning sessions. Short frequent sessions of 15 minutes will prove to be more effective as children have short attention spans.

2. Make It Musical

Children are always more attracted to the audio-visual medium. Introducing your kid to a textbook may not be welcomed initially. In this case, songs and music can be of great help. Singing rhymes with your child with actions can be both fun and engaging for your little fledgeling. This will teach them the correct way to pronounce and use words. You can also show them videos of rhymes and play the Do-Re-Mi song from The Sound of Music.

3. Everyday Conversations in English

Words for Greeting

A three-year-old kid will not be able to speak in complete sentences to express their thoughts. Hence, incorporating some English words in your daily conversations will prove to be worthwhile. You can start with greeting words, such as ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘bye’, and ‘good night’. These can be followed by the three magical words, ‘please’, ‘sorry,’ and ‘thank you’. You can then teach them how to form small sentences like ‘may I have an ice-cream?’ or ‘may I drink water?’ These will also teach them to frame question statements. However, remember to take it slow. 

4. Play Games 

Nothing is more exciting and effective than a combination of learning and fun. If your child enjoys what they learn, it won’t be long before they start speaking in proper English. There are a bunch of games you can play with your child to help them learn and retain their lessons. Pictionary, hangman, dumb charades, I spy, memory games, other online games, etc. will help them understand the meaning of words, express their thoughts and feelings, and, most importantly, build vocabulary. 

5. Story Time

Read Your Child a Story

Who doesn’t love to listen to stories? Children, especially, love books that are colourful and have attractive illustrations. Establish the ritual of sitting with your infant and reading them from a book. Point to the words you read, show them pictures and ask simple questions from time to time. This will help them associate sounds and images to words. Almost every child loves bedtime stories. Reading or narrating a bedtime story to your child with voice modulation will keep them hooked to the story and also encourage them to pick words from these stories.

What Should I Start With?

A lot of you are going to face the dilemma of which topics to begin with and what will attract your child’s attention. The best approach is to let your child have exposure to a wide variety of things and then assess their interest. Let their choices guide your decision as to what you can initiate. However, we have some suggestions listed below to make it a bit easier.

• Colours

• Numbers (1-10 then 11-20 and so on)

• Animals 

• Food

• Adjectives (long, short, tall, small, big, etc.)

• Three-letter words (mat, bat, cat, top, etc.)

• Transport (bus, car, train, etc.)

• Clothes

• Everyday people (teacher, doctor, police officer, mother, brother, driver, etc.)

• Objects around the house (pen, book, cup, glass, ball, etc.)

Conclusion

Teaching your little ones anything, let alone English, is a challenging task. It requires immense patience and a whole lot of creativity. However, these tips on how to teach a 3-year-old kid to speak English will surely make it a cakewalk for you and come in handy. You can also check out our website for some amazing stories that you can read out to your child as well as worksheets to help them learn words and count numbers.