Ammar n Titanic second take from Asniem Ca on Vimeo.

This is a video of my son describing on the sinking of titanic. He learn English mainly through watching cartoons and movies. Although I am an English teacher but we didn't talk a lot of English at home as I want the primary exposure to be the media.

By observing Ammar, we can see that that second-language language ability can be acquired in multiple ways through various form. The shift from the traditional learning method (parents talking to the toddler, reading  books or sending to the English only kindergarten) to the use of media is to highlight the possibility of diversion in teaching the language at home. The practice is useful and will be beneficial for non-speaking second-language parents to further educate their children at home.

The idea here is to let the parents know that even if they themselves are not proficient in the language mainly in speaking it, is not a dead end. Frequently parents blame themselves for their weakness thus shifting their responsibility to the teachers at school.

Parents can help their children learn mainly by selecting the appropriate media, making sure they watch it at least 30 minutes a day and go through on what they have seen in the cartoons or movies verbally. Children are like sponge, they absorb fast. However, they might have some difficulties in expressing themselves. This is where the constant exposure must take place so that the intended content that we want them to learn will register in their mind. In time they will have the self-esteem and you will be hearing all sort of stories from them.

Ammar and Achik (my youngest) watched the Titanic nearly everyday for the past month (with mummy and grandma as the censoring board ;) ) until the DVD went MIA. So now, all they can do is tell us again and again about the sinking of Titanic with the help of blocks and drawings. It can be hard sometimes when you are busy and all they want to do is tell you stories.

On the other hand, I am glad at least I did something right. Just for laughs, I had the fair share of watching Dora the Explorer at 2 am just because Ammar feels like it!

Cheers! Till the next video....