Agnieszka Murdoch

When I first went to France – in 2007 – I thought I could speak French. I’d done my homework before going – I knew the grammar, my vocabulary was pretty good, I was reading novels in French and even translating poetry from French into English at university! But when I actually got there and was suddenly confronted with real French people, I realised that I wasn’t as good as thought I was! I didn’t really know how to speak… Well, I was good at giving presentations about climate change, and the pros and cons of living abroad because that’s the kind of thing I’d be doing for my university course

And my online community – this blog, the YouTube channel where I share my advice on language learning, and the online language school I run to help people around the world learn languages effectively and independently. And it’s made me reflect on how important it was for me to have the opportunity to learn foreign languages as a child. Like many parents who speak another language themselves, I’m keen to introduce my daughter to at least one foreign language straight away. In this post, though, I’d like to share with you my thoughts on why it’s a great idea for parents to teach their children a foreign language.

One of my earliest memories from my childhood is playing with my Mum and my little brother at home, and my Mum teaching us some English words. But as I got a little bit older, I began to understand that those words – ‘a box’, ‘a dress’ and ‘a book’ – were part of a more complex reality. My Mum’s little game – teaching me how to say ‘box’, ‘dress’ and ‘book’ in English – led me to a life where languages (not just English but several others! ) are a focal point.

There’s always something that’s more important to do, it always seems like there’s not enough time, and sometimes you just don’t have the energy or the motivation to sit down and learn new words. There’s an interesting metaphor I’ve heard one time that shows exactly what starting small means and why it’s such a powerful approach. So, if you’re not motivated to floss every time you brush your teeth, start with flossing just one tooth every time. To help you with this, you can use the Motivation Journal, which is a language learning journal I’ve created specifically for recording your language learning goals and progress.