Teaching English to children in Kon Tum mountain town

Preschool is the "golden" age to learn English. Many schools in Kon Tum have implemented teaching and extracurricular activities to improve students' vocabulary.

Foreign teachers teach English to children at Hoa Thach Thao Kindergarten.

Exciting English hours for ethnic minority children

At 3 p.m., the English class at Son Ca Kindergarten (Dak Ha district) begins. With a color TV and an English board, Ms. Dong Thi Hau (30 years old, teacher at the English Center) begins her lesson with the game "look at the picture and guess the word".

In today's lesson, Ms. Hau teaches 4-year-old children common expressions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, etc. With lively, funny videos and realistic expressions, Ms. Hau guides the children to do the same.

She also uses body language and facial expressions to help children guess and find the corresponding English word. When children do not pronounce correctly, she guides them to read again. Children who pronounce well are praised by her and the whole class applauds.

Ms. Hau often organizes for children to learn through play. Through games such as: Breaking the board, finding the disappearing shape... to train children to guess and remember vocabulary. In addition, for each topic (emotions, fruits, animals...) there will be 5-6 suitable vocabulary words to help children practice pronunciation. These words are close and familiar to children every day so that they are more bold and active when learning.

While studying and playing, Nong Phuc Lam (4 years old) is very excited and enthusiastic when getting acquainted with a third language. Because in addition to his local language, Lam also learns Mandarin and approaches English.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, Principal of Son Ca Kindergarten, said that the whole school has 257 children studying at 2 campuses. The school has been implementing the program for children to access English for 5 years now. In the 2018-2019 school year, 4 classes from Nursery to Primary were all enrolled with 115 children. However, after 4 years of implementation in the Nursery class, realizing that the age was too young and the absorption was limited, the school decided to stop. In the 2022-2023 school year, the whole school has 132 children aged 4-5 years old learning English, of which 13 are ethnic minorities.

“Every week, 2 periods/class, the school agrees with parents to contract an English teacher to help children get acquainted with the new language. Although they are at a favorable age to absorb, when they go home, parents rarely speak English with their children, which limits their ability to remember. Therefore, the school regularly organizes extracurricular activities, integrating games to practice English skills, such as: Spring Festival, guessing letters, numbers and pictures... Through these activities, children are more confident and bold in communication", Ms. Hai shared.

Ms. Dong Thi Hau uses visual images to teach English to preschool children.

Get to know native teachers

In Kon Tum city, to help preschool children get acquainted with English, the school has contracted foreign teachers to teach. Ms. Le Thi Mai Thom - Principal of Hoa Thach Thao Kindergarten (Thang Loi Ward, Kon Tum City) - said that since the 2021-2022 school year, the school has piloted a program for 4-5 year old children to get acquainted with English. This school year, the school has expanded the program to 7/11 classes, with more than 70% of children registered by their parents to learn and get acquainted with English.

“Parents’ demand for their children to learn English has increased, so the school has partnered with the Foreign Language Center to organize English classes twice a week for children aged 3-5. Most of the teachers are foreigners, helping children to pronounce more accurately. In addition, the school organizes extracurricular activities every month to help children access and improve their English skills,” Ms. Thom shared.

Through games and songs in English, Nguyen Ngoc Diep (5-year-old kindergarten class, Hoa Thach Thao Kindergarten) has learned and understood some English sentences. When choosing to let her child get acquainted with English early, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phu - Diep's parent - realized many benefits. Because this is the golden period for children to develop their language skills. Especially when foreign teachers teach, children are bolder, more confident and more active in communication. At home, the family also lets their children watch videos or songs to form the habit of memorizing vocabulary.

According to Mr. Thai Khac Hoa - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Kon Tum city, the program for preschool children to get acquainted with English according to the circular of the Ministry of Education and Training has been positively responded to by preschools in the area. In the 2021-2022 school year, the locality has 20 preschools registered to organize for children to get acquainted with English. By this school year, with positive results, 23/34 preschools have implemented English teaching. Of which, there are 10 public schools and 13 non-public schools.

Introducing children to English from preschool will help them become more confident and bold when entering the official program at primary school. Therefore, in the coming time, the department will expand the English teaching program for preschool children in schools. In addition, it will strengthen the inspection and supervision of the organization and management of the English familiarization program for preschool children, helping teaching and learning to be highly effective.

“Teaching English to preschool children will encounter some difficulties because they are too young and hyperactive. However, at this age, children are easily accessible and this is the golden time to absorb language. Therefore, through visual images, eye-catching colors, etc., children are very excited to learn. Every time I move on to a new lesson, I will review old knowledge so that children can remember it for a long time,” Ms. Hau confided.

(Education & Times Newspaper)

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