Are you using cartoons to betrayal your kids to a new language? Here'southward how to turn it from a passive experience to an effective language learning activity for both of y'all.

Let'south first by immigration something upward. Just sitting your kid in front of ii hours of Tintin a solar day isn't going to do the job ok? If it did, this would exist a actually short postal service and everybody would accept multilingual kids. And notwithstanding so frequently on forums and threads when someone is looking for advice I come across 'lookout cartoons'. This advice really frustrates me because it leads you lot towards two language traps – (i) that passive listening is an effective strategy and (ii) that some people are talented at languages and some people aren't.

If you expect your kids to speak or understand a language even subsequently many hours of watching y'all're going to exist disappointed and disheartened or worse, think that your kid but doesn't have the 'linguistic communication gene'.


This is because your kids are doing passive listening. They are following the story by watching the images (children are remarkably visually literate) and ignoring or letting the language launder over them.

BUT, before you delete your library of Netflix cartoons or your Youtube playlist, read on. I'll show you how cartoons are an incredibly useful resources for supporting your kid's linguistic communication learning. It's all about how yous use them.

Why Cartoons Are Swell for Language Learning

Children dearest cartoons. And you shouldn't underestimate the ability of having a language resource that is enjoyable. For instance, at that place'southward no mode I would want to sit down down and piece of work through a textbook simply I am happy to tackle complicated grammer and vocabulary in the novel that I'm reading.

Children, particularly young children will happily lookout the same cartoons over and over again – this is an amazing opportunity y'all can use to your reward. And, past the way, it's fantastic for your own language learning equally well.

I establish that although I had religion in the advice that watching a scene from a motion-picture show repeatedly had immense benefits, I rarely had the patience to bear it out. Although I knew it was useful it didn't feel useful and I was always itching to move on to the adjacent new thing, the next episode of Bref or the next quiz on Periodical En Français Facile. Only I can truly say that being forced to re-watch the aforementioned episode of Caillou over and over once again past my 3-year-old has been absolutely vivid for my own listening comprehension. Now, information technology actually niggles if there is a discussion or expression that I didn't quite take hold of or don't recognize and I genuinely expect forward to watching it once more the next mean solar day to endeavor to pin information technology down.

They Use Natural Phrases and Expressions

If yous select the right drawing, it volition be packed full of useful relevant everyday vocabulary.

We can use all of these things to our reward to plow watching cartoons from a passive, non very useful pastime to an awesomely effective tool.

When I first started using cartoons with my toddler, I had 2 vague goals in mind – that he would hear a 'proper' French emphasis with native pronunciation and that he might first to option upwards some of the language. At that betoken, I had been learning French for a piffling while myself but I wasn't confident in my own ability to speak it to him. I figured that the only way he was going to get exposure to the language was through listening to music and watching cartoons.

In the commencement, I watched the cartoons with him and occasionally pointed out some of the words. I knew that it would be a good opportunity to practice my own listening comprehension and I was pleased that I could get the gist of what was being said, fifty-fifty if I wasn't looking at the screen. And so far, and then good correct?

But then our progress ground to a halt…

It started to become much less effective. Because I could 'become the gist', I mentally crossed 'drawing watching' off my list of useful resources for my own study. Unconsciously, I had given myself a large tick next to the activity and was fix to move on to observe new material for my listening comprehension.

Shortly, I started to endeavour to be more 'productive' with my time and do household jobs whilst he was watching. I'm sure everyone who has kids tin can chronicle to this temptation… They are happy, settled, no-one is arguing and they're going to be fine on their own for the adjacent few minutes. That'southward merely enough fourth dimension to stack the dishwasher, get-go cooking dinner or showtime any i of those hundreds of jobs y'all take been trying to get done that day. At the aforementioned time I was getting frustrated because I was finding less and less fourth dimension to fit in my own language learning every day.

I knew that he wasn't really getting much do good from passively watching the cartoons and I likewise wasn't getting any constructive study time so our progress ground to a halt.

So I changed the way we lookout man cartoons.

Information technology wasn't until I took The Eurolinguiste Busy Language Learner Course (thanks, Shannon!) that I realized what I was doing wrong. I was taking the grade to effort to cleave out some more fourth dimension for my own French study, but Shannon made me realize that the fourth dimension watching cartoons with my toddler could be really effective French learning time for both of united states.

This is the email I sent to Shannon when I had a 'lightbulb' moment and realized I had been going about it all the wrong way:

"I had not even considered cartoon watching every bit a language learning activeness for me! I had mentally filed it as 'language learning for the kids'…but you accept inspired me to totally rethink the style we watch cartoons. I've now turned information technology from a passive (and therefore pretty useless) experience for the kids into a really interactive, constructive language experience for all of u.s.a.!"

I had been completely dismissing the value of watching cartoons for my own French study and I was too preventing my toddler from having an constructive learning experience. I needed to develop a system to make this an agile, productive learning session that we could both benefit from.

If watching a drawing was going to be an effective learning time, I had to be totally present with my toddler, sitting alongside him, concentrating, engaging and interacting. Afterward all, when I read to him, I don't try to exercise the washing up at the same time! Children larn language by interacting – this is an agile process.

Cartoons are a great language resource, but it'south upwards to you to take that resource and plow it into an active, social experience. Otherwise, information technology's nigh every bit much utilize as sitting your kids down and presenting them with a French / English dictionary. It's stuffed full of useful language just looking through it isn't going to plough them into French speakers!

So I sat down and took some time to work out some ways that I could brand the time more than constructive for him. I also reassessed my ain feelings about using the cartoons every bit listening comprehension. I decided that 'getting the gist' wasn't good enough – my new goal was going to exist to hear and understand every discussion, phrase and expression.

The results have been amazing for both of us – non only has information technology fabricated Telly time a fun, bonding experience but information technology has definitely improved his understanding and enriched his vocabulary. It has likewise had some surprising benefits for me that I hadn't predicted. I'll share these in a moment, but first, here's my guide to getting more value from watching cartoons.

My Stride-by-Stride Guide to Making Your TV Time more productive [drawing image four]

Step one: Choose your cartoon.

Information technology's worth putting in a chip of effort at this phase to research a adept cartoon. If your own listening comprehension isn't quite strong enough yet, it'due south well worth finding a cartoon with subtitles in your target language. When I'm researching a new cartoon for my petty boy, I inquire myself 3 questions:

* Will he like information technology?
* Will he be able to follow the story without understanding the language? (I think this is really important for him to be able to savour what he is watching)
* Is the vocabulary going to be useful?

If your target language is French, you're in luck considering comics and cartoons are a staple of French culture (think Asterix, Tin can Tin, Lucky Luke). However, my accented favourite drawing for my kids is Caillou. It's a French-Canadian drawing about a little boy who is well-nigh iii/4 years one-time and his everyday experiences. Information technology deals with lots of existent-life situations like going to the dentist, the physician, the beach, nursery, the park and his relationship with his family. I love that the familiar situations means it is instantly relatable even if you don't understand a give-and-take of French. Information technology as well means that the phrases and vocabulary are relevant to our everyday lives so I know that I have a adept source of authentic, natural sounding phrases that I can use when I'chiliad speaking to my kids. Whatever your target linguistic communication, a Google or Youtube search tin can ordinarily bring up a few popular cartoons. (I was really chuffed to discover I could spotter Bing! in Welsh the other twenty-four hours!)

Pace two: Watch information technology yourself.

Your first fourth dimension watching can be with or without your child. Your goals on this kickoff lookout man are to sympathise as much as possible. You lot don't need to worry if you don't catch everything (unless you want to), the signal is to listen intently. If you need to, watch it on your own starting time with subtitles and break to expect up words if yous remember you have missed something of import.

Pick out one or two things that are relevant to your own life at the moment. For example, over Christmas we watched episodes about putting up a Christmas Tree and making a snowman. We were doing both these activities ourselves at around this fourth dimension and so I knew I would accept opportunities to use the vocabulary with my kids. It can be something really minor, like, maybe a character goes on an escalator and in that location is an escalator at your local shopping center – it really can be anything yous think you might be able to employ in your everyday life in the next few days.

Step three″ Make notes.

Choose a couple of words / phrases / whole sentences that are useful and relevant to you and jot them down.

Run into how this is already peachy for your own study? Yous're engaging in active listening, checking vocabulary and writing down useful phrases. At present you're going to apply what you've been doing to improve your children's understanding. This awarding will besides reinforce your own learning and give you opportunities to review and repeat the cloth in a fun way with your kids. Awesome right?

Pace iv: Watch again.

The next time you watch TV in your target linguistic communication, watch the same episode again. Now it'due south all about drawing your child's attention to the words / phrases you picked out and helping them to train their ear. When you first heed to a new language it sounds similar one continuous string of babble, y'all don't know where ane word ends and one begins. We recollect that we exit gaps between words when nosotros speak like when we write but those gaps are imaginary – your brain inserts spaces for you once you are familiar with the linguistic communication. You are going to help your child start to pick out individual words from the stream.

In that location are a number of means to do this depending on the age and personality of your child.

Here are a few ideas:

Explicate a word / phrase. Let'due south say one of the phrases you jotted downwards is 'c'est l'heure du dîner' (it'south dinner fourth dimension). When you hear the character say information technology, pause and say something like- 'Caillou's mum just saidc'est fifty'heure du dîner. That means it'due south dinner time.C'est fifty'heure du dîner.' Say the target language phrase slowly and clearly and repeat it a couple of times.

Bingo. There are so many ways yous can vary this game to keep it fun.

You can get all out and make cards to marker off with a prize, it tin can be competitive (although I strongly suggest letting them win about of the time!) or collaborative, yous tin keep a tally of how many times a particular word or phrase is said in an episode and see if you go the same number on the next watch or just simply say 'tell me when you hear the give-and-take '_______'. Y'all can gradually increase the difficulty by simply listening for i word / phrase when yous spotter for the first time and so the next fourth dimension you watch the same episode you tin can listen out for ii or iii different words.

Encourage their inference skills. For example, when I first introduced the words for 'snowman' in French, I paused the episode and said 'Information technology'southward snowing and Caillou wants to make united nations bonhomme de neige in the garden' What do you think un bonhomme de neige is? This is splendid grooming for their inference skills when they are reading / watching in their native language too so it's a win-win strategy!

Contextualise. In other words, try to link what y'all're watching to something happening in your ain lives. We watched an episode recently where Caillou made a card for his dad. We had simply fabricated a carte for my toddler's great grandmother so this was a perfect opportunity to put my fundamental phrases into a existent life context that had happened that day. The narrator in the drawing said 'Caillou a fait une carte pour son Papa'. And then I paused and repeated slowly 'Caillou a fait une menu' then I said to my toddler 'tu every bit fait une carte for great grandma today'.

Use the words / sentences in the side by side few days as often as possible when they are relevant to what you lot are doing. If you lot've chosen well, you should be able to find lots of opportunities to use them, if you're struggling to piece of work your phrases into a conversation, no sweat, have another become tomorrow! You tin also extend this by calculation variations e.g. 'tu veux faire une carte pour Papa aussi?' 'd'accord, on va faire une carte du jour cascade Papa plus tard' 'Papa, on a fait une carte pour toi!' (Do you want to make a bill of fare for daddy also? Ok, we are going to make a card for daddy later on. Daddy, we made a carte for you lot!)

Something really of import that I need to mention hither is to always allow your kids be the guide. If they are doing well and having fun then by all means up the difficulty or expand the game. If they are not very responsive then have a footstep back. Always keep it light and fun and encouraging – don't plow it into schoolwork or make them feel nether pressure to perform.

If you follow this process you lot will see a big difference in the value you are getting from cartoons.

And those actress benefits I discovered?

When I was doing any kind of listening comprehension before, I was listening to empathise. Now I observe when we are watching cartoons, I am listening with the goal of beingness able to use the language. This has probably doubled my attentiveness. I have found that in that location is a massive difference between being able to completely sympathize a conversation and being able to accurately reproduce the same / similar sentences myself. I am noticing much more about the language and I find that I have a running commentary in my caput of the things that I am observing or need to check, similar Was that de or du? c'est or il est? Was that verb reflexive? Which verb practice they use in this collocation? etc.

And then my new year's resolution is to go on following the steps to a higher place to put an stop to passive listening and make TV time a rich linguistic communication feel that nosotros can share. I need to remind myself that this is a productive time for both of us also as lovely bonding fourth dimension, it's exactly what I need to exist doing at that moment in fourth dimension and it deserves my full attention. The housework will merely accept to wait until the stop of this episode…or maybe after the side by side ane.

What about you?

Exercise you employ cartoons to expose your children to your target language? What cartoons practice you sentinel and how do you use them?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Nigh the Author // Francesca Pursell is a mother, linguistic communication learner and former instructor who created her website makinglittlelinguists.com to write about ways that beginner and intermediate linguistic communication learners can help their children learn a new language. Her own language adventures began with French and she has recently begun to learn Welsh. She is continually finding ways of incorporating French into family unit life with her two immature children. She has created a Cartoon Watching Cheat Canvass to go with this weblog mail which tin be downloaded here.