Speak up!

Bienvenue, bébé

Talk To Your Baby "has produced a series of quick tips for parents and practitioners to help children develop good talking and listening skills." I was a bit mystified by the word "practitioners" - what do they practise, and are you allowed to practise on real babies?

However, I understood "parents", and when I am told that "talking to your baby from day one will help the two of you get to know each other, and gives your child a great start in life," I’m willing to accept that getting to know Junior and giving him/her a leg up early in the growing game is a good thing. Talk To Your Baby has all the facts on having a rich conversation with the new arrival.

Starting with saying hello, moving on to playing and sharing books, the website’s advice is contained in PDF factsheets in English and several other languages. If you are a bi-lingual household, there are tips on talking to your baby in your own language.

The factsheet on what to do if you speak one language and baby’s first words are in another language is particularly useful… no, you’re right, I made that bit up. The whole concept of this website, provided by the National Literacy Trust, is ripe for satirical sniggers, but I suspect that raising children is one of those pursuits that seems easy until you’re actually doing it, by which time a few tips are welcome.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Languages". Talk To Your Baby is under "Language learning and teaching".)

Welcome to English

That’s enough baby stuff for one week. What about someone who made it through babyhood, probably in another country, who comes to this country with little English and less confidence to speak it. Can you help?

You can do such a person a real favour by pointing them towards BBC Learning English. I know I’m always banging on about how good the BBC’s specialist web pages are, but they just are. From family history to flower arranging, they’ve got it taped, and for learning English in an enjoyable way, this is the place to start.
Podcasts, cartoons, quizzes and soap operas: all these and more are used to help you practise your vocabulary, your grammar and - particularly important - how to use what you’ve learned in real situations. "Asking for help in emergencies" is illustrated with a picture from Z Cars, but I think the words are a bit more up-to-date!

BBC Learning English is a treasure trove - pass it on.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "Languages". BBC Learning English is under "English for speakers of other languages" - probably our longest title.)

Pic: mantasmagorical/morguefile.com