How can i teach my child to speak english
How to Teach a Child to Speak English at Home: Ideas from Experienced Tutors
Teach your child to speak English, and you’ll open up a world of opportunities for their future. It’s well-documented that English speakers often earn more, have access to the world’s top universities and enjoy greater opportunities for travel. Who wouldn’t want that for their child?
If you’re determined to help your child learn English, you’re probably considering getting some expert guidance, whether that’s through an online English course, or finding a tutor who specializes in teaching kids.
But as a parent, you’re probably also wondering “What can I do at home to support my child’s English education myself?” We asked Preply English tutors who specialize in teaching kids that very question, and this is what they said.
1. Sing songs with them
A number of tutors mentioned that music is a great way to capture a child’s attention, and help them remember new words without stress.
Nyuyki “For me, the best way is through singing and watching interactive videos. This has been tested and so far came out positive. Most children love songs and can easily retain things through music!”
2. Use English in daily life
If you are comfortable speaking English yourself, use it in daily life alongside your mother tongue. Early exposure to more than one language at home has dozens of perks for your child. To name just one, studies show it’ll make pronunciation easier for them in the long term.
Interactive classes for kids
Learning with a tutor is more fun. Give your kids English lessons they’ll love!
Meet Preply tutors
Magdalini “Make the learning process as natural as possible. Don’t treat English as a foreign language but include it in daily activities, games and songs as you do with the child’s first language.
While coloring, name the colors in English, while dancing, repeat the names of the moves in English, and so on.”
3. Set a regular learning routine
It’s well-known that kids love routine: it inspires a sense of security and helps them to develop self-discipline. It’s also really helpful for learning a second language!
Mirela Z.“If you are teaching your children English at home, I would advise you to have a routine for your children! Set up a schedule that is consistent every week; schedule days and times in which your children will be studying English. Have them choose the topics or themes to study, to keep them interested. Give them fun projects to do; like drawing the solar system, the USA map, holiday pictures, etc., and record them doing a presentation about the project. They will feel important!”
4. Play with your child in English
Several of our tutors suggested you should encourage your child to use English whilst playing.
After all, studying a language won’t feel like studying if they’re having fun!
Rajesh “To help your child get ahead with English learning, get them to play in the language. At home, try playing dress-up games, hide-and-seek, Simon Says, charades and other popular games, whilst speaking in English. In other words, get them to learn the language in the same way they learned their first one!”
5. Ask them to act out something they see on TV
On the subject of play, one idea for a creative game is to have your child role-play an English-language commercial that you find on YouTube or the TV.
Miriela “Have them watch a commercial, and ask them to repeat it, as if they were acting in the commercial. This will help with their communication skills, and if they are shy, it will help them overcome their fear of making a mistake.”
6. Read comics together
If your child is slightly older, English-language comic books can be a great step towards reading English independently.
Not sure where to start? Marvel comics are a classic starting point for those learning US English, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid is great for teaching contemporary British English.
Jamie “I think comic strips are a great way to motivate a child to learn English, depending on their age and ability. If they read a comic featuring their favorite superhero, for example, they will feel excited to learn. Also, the pictures really help them to understand the language as they provide great context.”
7. Praise them!
Children thrive on encouragement and their parents’ encouragement above all! If your kid is trying their best to learn English, let them know that their effort makes you proud.
Leonah “Praise your child to create a sense of success, and encourage them especially when they keep going with difficult tasks. Create a reward system for when they work hard! It doesn’t have to cost anything – extra free time, more visits to friends or activities of their choice.
Don’t criticize them too often or correct every mistake, it’s okay and very normal to make mistakes when learning a language. In short, PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!”
8. Ask them open-ended questions in English
If your child is younger than ten, they’re probably always asking you “Why?” Now, it’s your turn to do this to them!
Nickoi “My strategy in the classroom is to ask open-ended questions that allow my students to speak and express themselves as much as possible. Parents can do the same, engage their children in conversation which allows them to use the language as much as possible.”
9. Have a tea party in English
If your children are very young, a teddy bears’ tea party in English is a very cute idea that they’ll enjoy!
Clare “The best way for parents to help young children learn English at home is to incorporate learning with play. With very young children, why not try to have a tea party in English? The child can invite their soft toys and the parent can come along, perhaps with younger siblings who won’t mind what language is being spoken, as long as they get to join in with pretend tea and cake!”
10.
Create stories with them Creative writing in English is a fun activity for little people with big imaginations.
Clare “With older children, try writing a story together. As a tutor, I like to create stories with my young students about a toy they have brought to the lesson. The child is then involved in directing their learning from the start. Once the story is built up, we take turns reading it aloud. When the child reads the story back, they recognise the vocabulary, as these are the words they have just spoken. Other keywords can also be added to make the story flow or to introduce new vocabulary. I use the story later on as a base for exercises or homework.”
11. Use puppets
Two of our tutors mentioned that puppets are a fun way to help younger children overcome their fear of speaking in English.
Sally “I love playing games with my students using my puppet, Ziggy. Sometimes he hides part of a flashcard, other times he acts out actions for them to guess.
When I ask a question and can see the student is unsure of how to answer, I ask Ziggy so they can hear his answer. It gives them the confidence to try the next one! We can correct Ziggy’s mistakes too — it stops them from being afraid of making mistakes which is so important and we can laugh together.”
Catherine Anne B “I am currently teaching English to Arabic children and I use puppets as my main tool in teaching English. I found the children loved the puppets and even put on puppet shows, demonstrating what they had learned.”
12. Talk to your child’s tutor
If your child has an online English tutor, it can be tempting to leave them alone during lesson time. Especially if your child is a little shy and you don’t want to distract them!
However, several tutors mentioned that children make much faster progress when parents check in with their tutors. It can help them stay up-to-date with what their child is learning, and practice it between lessons.
Yolandi “My young online students who show the fastest improvement are the ones whose parents are actively involved in their learning and development. The parents who ask me to make videos of their children’s classes, to re-watch together afterward show rapid improvement. Children and teenagers who get little to no support from their parents during their language course show slower improvement.”
She was keen to stress that there is a lot that parents can do to help their children learn, even if they’re not fluent in English themselves.
“Parents who don’t speak English, but want to support their children/teenagers in their English studies, can attend my classes together with their children (at no extra charge) so they can learn too. This will empower them to help their children with homework, or to complete worksheets at home, since they have also followed the lessons, and learned the same things that their child did.
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She went on to deliver one final message which all parents will agree on.
“Love, showing interest, and giving support in the process of learning, are three of the most important contributions that parents could ever make towards their children’s development.”
The golden rule from our tutors? Make it fun!
We spoke to more than 30 tutors, and at least half of them pointed out that the most important advice for teaching a child English is to make it a process they enjoy. Don’t push them too hard to work on grammar exercises, and focus on playful activities and speaking skills. After all, they are still young enough to learn a language simply by being around it often, and it’s important to let kids be kids.
Give your child happy memories of learning English, and they’ll grow up with positive feelings towards the language. This will make them more likely to stick with it, and develop their skills to fluency! It’ll also be a much nicer experience for you and them.
Jackie “My biggest piece of advice is to make English fun! A child’s creativity and excitement will help him or her succeed. Practice spelling using games. Read interesting stories. Make a yummy recipe together in English! It isn’t just about the results; it’s also about the journey along the way. The more hands-on and interactive the learning becomes, the more the child will retain the information down the line.”
Hopefully, these tips gave you some inspiration for creative ways to teach your child english at home. If you’d like some more guidance, a few English lessons with an online tutor who specializes in teaching kids can be a source of inspiration for bringing English into your home. Private tutoring doesn’t have to be expensive either, with prices starting from just $5 per hour (and half-hour lessons available for little people with short attention spans!).
If you’re reading this, you’re planning to do a very responsible thing for your child’s future.
Being able to speak English is a remarkable gift, and will set them up for success later in life. It’s also much easier to learn a new language as a child than as an adult! If you start them young, by the time they need their language skills, they will have a high level of fluency, and speaking English will feel effortless.
How to teach a child to speak English – Teaching English Games
If you can’t see the video below, demonstrating how to teach a child to speak English, it’s also on YouTube here.
Introduction
It is common for parents to want their children to learn how to speak English, whether as a second language or even a third or a fourth. The biggest challenge for everyone, even teachers, is knowing how to make it fun so that children want to learn. Keep reading, and I’ll show you how!
My sister-in-law’s daughter, Julie, inspired me to create ‘Teach Your Child English.
’ Even with a bilingual mother and bilingual grandparents living next door, Julie was struggling in secondary school. She would be fluent by now if only her mother had the right tools to help her. But, instead, like so many parents, Julie’s mother relied on the local primary school to give her child a foundation in English. After six years, though, Julie still hadn’t moved beyond, “my name is Julie!” And we are not talking about a little girl who had difficulty learning; she was at the top of her class. The biggest problem is that teachers in France must teach English, yet so many do not even speak it.
Speaking English is a gift you can give your child.
Speaking English may make their future easier and enrich their life. Unfortunately, the educational system for teaching languages in some countries is dire. Kids can spend years in English class and know nothing. The textbook-based, board-centric teaching gives poor results unless students study in their own time. However, you can take matters into your own hands by finding a private tutor and giving them this web page.
Alternatively, follow my method and do the job yourself, without formal training.
All you need is a little time. Your child will show improvement after 20 minutes, three times a week. But, even if you can only do a lesson once a week, they will be better off than before if you use the correct teaching method.
After years of studying foreign languages and teaching English, I know how important the early years are in helping your child get ahead. So read on or how to teach a child to speak English; here are some easy, actionable steps to help you and your child get to where you want to be!
How to teach a child to speak English.
Get started!
Four immediate steps you can take to help your child learn to speak English:
Step one
Sign up for our free games! These will allow your child to have fun while learning new vocabulary and grammar.
Step two
Watch the ‘how to teach a child to speak English’ video at the top of this page! You will see with your own eyes that these games teach English in a fun and relaxed environment for your child.
Step three
All it takes is the time to read up on one of the free games you will receive by email and then sit with your child to explore the possibilities. So, make the time! Even with our busy schedules as parents, just spending five minutes of quality time each day with your child will help them grow in invaluable ways.
Step four
For further growth and development, purchase my complete resource on how to teach a child to speak English. But first, why not try some free games today? I’m here to help you!
Be positive
Your attitude counts! Be kind to your child. Don’t be critical, or worse, ridicule them for errors in pronunciation. On the other hand, don’t imply that the child is inferior to others or slow to learn English. If you deflate your tyres before a road trip, it’ll take longer to reach your destination, and you likely won’t get there. The same will happen if you deflate your child’s ego.
It is only natural for a parent to be eager for their child to learn quickly, only to be frustrated with what may seem like slow progress.
However, if you are teaching a child English for the first time, remember that everything is new. Sounds are foreign, even more so if the child only hears English during the lesson with you. Therefore, you can expect to start slowly and gain speed as the child becomes familiar with their first new words and English phonemes.
Through the use of child-friendly language games, role-playing, stories, and songs, the following method places your child in a fun, safe environment. This method is effective because it uses constant repetition without being monotonous or pointless.
Show your child encouragement through smiles and praise, whatever the outcome of the lesson.
Showing impatience or frustration with a child because they have forgotten the previous lesson will create feelings of inferiority and might turn them learning English altogether.
Avoid competition or comparison between siblings like the plague.
Comparing siblings or creating competition between them will only turn out badly.
Comparison is not helpful for either child and could create resentment and jealousy between siblings.
How to get results!
Practice makes perfect, especially if done regularly
Children need constant repetition to remember vocabulary. Therefore, you will see far more progress with frequent short sessions rather than infrequent long ones. For example, three sessions of twenty minutes are much more effective than one hour-long session. This is especially important with children learning English as a foreign language where the only English they hear is during their lessons.
That said, logistics often dictate arrangements, so if your child has one lesson a week with a tutor, try and spend two fifteen-minute sessions with them, revising words from the lesson via a few games.
Children need constant revision.
Games allow you to review themes and large amounts of vocabulary in a fun way to help your child remember what they have learned.
Do not get bogged down by grammar!
Young children do not need to know the ins and outs, rules, and exceptions of English grammar.
They just need to understand and speak via games and conversation. Children learn naturally through immersion, not by learning rules. In this way, the correct grammar will come naturally. For example, your eight-year-old daughter does not need to know the rules and exceptions of the conditional tense to say, “I would like some water, please.”
Putting grammar on the back seat should come as a relief to parents who do not feel comfortable explaining grammar at all; just know that children are like sponges and will naturally “absorb” what they need to know.
A solid Foundation in English
Are you worried about whether or not your own English is good enough to teach your child?
How well should you speak English?
It’s ideal to be a native English speaker, but you have a choice to make if you are not. You can do nothing and limit your child’s chance of becoming bilingual, you can hire a native speaker to teach for you, or you can take charge and do the job yourself, even if your accent is not perfect.
Hire a native tutor if you have the financial means, and then help your child even further by practising with them at home. If you do not have the means, then, no matter what your ability, it is considerably better than doing nothing.
What about pronunciation and foreign accents?
Let us not get into dialects here. Consider that many English teachers are not native speakers and have a foreign accent. Foreign accents in English are often charming, so don’t fret if you have one. The most crucial thing in any language is that others understand you. Using a story resource with audio from native speakers, like this one, is just the ticket to teach British and American English. The story resource is a curriculum you may follow in conjunction with this book of one-to-one games. However, if you are teaching online, this ESL Online Games book is the one you want.
What if you make errors with English?
Even native English speakers make mistakes! However, it is essential, especially with beginners, to use correct grammar in sentences, so prepare before your lesson.
Other useful tips
Where do you start and what do you teach?
The teaching resource at the bottom of this page includes a recommended curriculum with vocabulary themes. These themes cover common topics and help you through the task of learning English logically. Parents find the lesson plans a great help as they spell out the method step by step, and ESL teachers save preparation time. ESL teachers may use this resource alone or supplement an existing curriculum.
Accuracy
Your child is a blank slate when it comes to learning English, so try to fill the slate with quality material from the start!
About “Teach Your Child English”
Teach Your Child English is for teachers and parents teaching English one-to-one or siblings. Levels: Beginners to lower intermediates. Ages 4-12, though you may get started at 3 and spill over to 13. The difference is that with 3 year old children you will move more slowly through vocabulary and games. While with older children you will whizz through games, and be able to teach spelling and writing.
Feel free to practice on the free games first as a trial run.
ESL Online Games is for children aged six and up, right through to adults.
Stories or skits are a great complement to the games book and can serve as a curriculum.
How long does it take?
The more often you give fun lessons, the more progress you will see. Please allow a minimum of 1 hour to read the introduction and watch one of the demo videos before getting started. Then, after a few lessons with your child, you will only need 5 minutes to prepare.
Great results from teachers!
“I tried your one on one games and had an amazing result. My student was bursting with happiness. I’m very happy. Thank you!!!!”
Khromykhina Olena, Ukraine.
Proof this method words, even for dyslexic children
“I could write you miles and miles of compliments, but I think there is only one word rich enough to express my full gratitude: THANK YOU!
I started today with the younger girl and was very surprised.
She managed to stay concentrated for more than half an hour, which is fantastic for a person with dyslexia. THANK YOU FROM ALL MY HEART!”
Savinka Geratic, Sloveni
Great resources for how to teach a child to speak English
Plus five sets of stories for ages 3 to 10
Spoken English for kids online: lesson ideas and tutorials
December
29
Hello my dear readers.
Today our topic is “conversational English for children” – after all, this is a problem that every parent faces when they want their child to know the language as early as possible. And this problem also exists because - as we have known for a long time - they do not teach to speak English in school.
And in order not to reproach myself later with the question why I relied on the school and did not take everything into my own hands, by the time my daughter reached the right age, I was already ready! We practiced every day and as a result, by the age of 5 my baby already spoke English.
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And you can teach this to your children too!
Therefore, today I have 10 ways for you to put your baby in conversation. The most interesting method for him is, of course, the game. In a playful way, children are able to remember several times more information than in normal reading or storytelling.
Well, shall we begin?
- Retelling stories.
The point is that the adult quietly tells the child a little story. Then the child retells it to another person and so on in a chain. As you might expect, by the end the story will be completely different. And when an adult tells the original, everyone understands what kind of damaged phone they got. nine0025 - Each with a thread.
Make up stories together. The way each adds over a sentence to the previous person's words. So in a fun way, the baby will stop being afraid to speak and will use his vocabulary. A simplified version of this game is simply listing words in order, the number of which grows with each new move.
- Talking drawings.
Almost everyone loves to draw. So let's do it. For example, let the kid draw the food he loves, or his family members, or the story of how he went to his grandmother in the summer - whatever. nine0024 Everyone does it. Then, if this is a group of kids, they are divided into pairs and tell each other what they drew. And then, to consolidate everything one more time, they must tell what they learned about their friend. That is, the kids will practice both in their own story and in retelling other stories. - Put on a fairy tale.
Little children love to imitate and pretend. So let them play some fairy tale. Give them words and roles - let them practice. nine0025 - Potato
Pick up a ball and throw it to each other with sentences in English. You can modify the game with a story and add your own proposal for each throw of the ball.
- +1.
Come up with sentences one by one. For example:
House…
My house…
My house is big…
My house is big and warm…
And so on until the fantasy runs out. Excitement makes you remember even the most passive words from your stock. nine0025 - Stories from pictures.
Place some pictures in front of the child. For example, forest, animals, family, etc. And try to come up with a story with these pictures. The path your kid comes up with is the maximum number of possible sentences.
Whatever games and activities you use with your children, cards with bright pictures will always help you achieve results faster. Therefore, I immediately give advice to all parents: purchase cards . Your child will speak instantly!
- Cartoons.
Watch a cartoon and have your child answer your questions or try to retell it. - Crocodile.
A very famous game that you can change a bit. Just let the baby not silently show the words, but, on the contrary, describe them. Naturally, not in Russian. And you already have to guess what this terrible word is! nine0025
- Charades.
A word (person, object, animal, etc.) is written on the sticker and the sticker is glued to the forehead. You need to guess what is written there, by leading questions.
Are you ready to start playing with your little ones?
But not everything is so simple. You won't learn much from games alone. Here's another one for you
• You can't go anywhere without a textbook.
Yes, you will have to work with the textbook. Do not take a dozen books at once, choose one thing that will become a support in learning the language in the near future. This may be, for example, Lyudmila Belina's textbook Spoken English for Children.
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• Learn to listen.
What we hear is the easiest for us to reproduce. Give your child as much audio practice as possible: listen to songs, watch cartoons - so long as he develops the correct auditory perception for subsequent playback. Especially now that it can be done online and for free.
• Learn phrases.
Of course, without learning some basic phrases, don't expect your child to just start talking. Before you start talking with him on the topic of the family, learn the vocabulary from this topic. Here are some of the most interesting phrases that kids under 10 can start with. nine0003
That's all, dear ones.
I hope that your little ones will crackle in English soon. Share your results and ask questions in the comments.
Until then, bye!
See you soon.
How to teach a child to speak English
It's no secret that today many parents begin to worry about the future of their child even before he is born, and there are objective reasons for this.
The economic crisis, the unstable situation in the labor market make us seriously think about whether the child will be able to overcome life's difficulties and find his calling. nine0003
And probably many parents are wondering how to help their child learn English, because today it is the main language of the professional sphere, which opens many doors for a person.
When learning a language, remember that you need to start learning from an early age. Remember that children absorb knowledge like a sponge. So, at 3-4 years old, you can start teaching your child the basics of English.
There are many different methods of teaching English to children. Having chosen the right technique, you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your child will learn new words and expressions! nine0003
1. Use English in everyday life
You are your child's guide and role model. Therefore, use English in everyday situations. This will help you gain knowledge.
You can, for example, cook with your child in English while cooking or bathing.
Child psychologists say that a child's exposure to words in a foreign language in early childhood contributes to bilingualism.
Today it is very prestigious to speak several languages. But let's see what kind of benefits a person gets from knowing foreign languages:
- it is scientifically proven that knowledge of a foreign language stimulates the development of the child's brain, he develops better thought processes, work with a system of symbols and analysis.
- the child will learn faster, because he already has a certain amount of knowledge in another language, it will be easier for him to learn a second, third, and so on a foreign language.
- the child will discover another world. Learning English will help develop curiosity about other cultures and the world around it. nine0003
If you speak English with your child every day, it will greatly help him not only at school, but also later in his professional development.
It is important to alternate between English and Russian at different times of the day. At first, the child, of course, will confuse words and expressions in different languages, but gradually he will learn to use them correctly.
2. Learning English through songs
We all remember songs like “Let pedestrians run clumsily through puddles…” and the like from childhood. As adults, we remember them by heart. The same will happen with your children. Learn songs or rhymes in English with children in a playful way. nine0003
Translate them together so that the child understands the meaning and you will see that soon the child will know them better than you. You can also play English songs in the background. In this way, the child will get used to hearing the language of Shakespeare and learning will be easier. Music is one of the best ways to introduce a child to a foreign language.
A child can start speaking English from the age of three. Many of the songs and rhymes that children regularly listen to will help them understand the structure of English speech.
Without realizing it, children are also working on pronunciation. Cheerful melodies, simple lyrics and clear intonation will help children want to listen to them over and over again until they memorize them. nine0003
Here is our small selection of simple English children's songs, check Youtube:
For learning the English alphabet: The alphabet song ,
For learning numbers in English: The ants go marching ,
For learning colors and clothes : The colors of our clothes .
3. Learning Games in English
Playing is one of the best methods of learning a foreign language. There are many educational games, including online ones. nine0003
Does your child often play with your phone? Install the application from the Appstore or Google Play and he will start learning without knowing it.
In the era of digital technologies, it is worth paying attention to the educational resources of the Internet.
Among these resources, you can easily find games in English for your children. What is the first thing to teach a child? It depends on his interests. But it's logical to start with simple things like:
- numbers (1-10; 10-20; 20-100)
- colors
- adjectives (big, small, happy, sad, tired)
- body parts
- toys
- things
- animals (domestic, farm, wild)
- food
For example, you can use the following online resources: .com
– www.eslgamesplus.com
Of course, you can find fun games without using the Internet, such as role-playing games. You can also play hide and seek, instead of counting in your native language, ask your child to count in English. Remember that the main thing is to enjoy the process! The best way to learn is when we learn in a fun and enjoyable way. Capture the attention of the child through the game, and he will not even notice how he speaks in a foreign language. nine0003
4. Read children's books in English
Your child probably loves it when you read books to him before bed.
Change language! After reading a book in Russian, choose another simple book in English and read to your child. This will help him to better perceive oral speech and increase vocabulary. If your child is just learning or can already read, introduce him to the English alphabet.
To arouse a child's interest in language and develop their imagination, alternate stories in Russian and English. To make learning English enjoyable and rewarding:
- choose short stories to read. Young children's attention is short-lived, so use small 10-minute pieces.
- To develop your child's vocabulary, choose stories with specific themes, such as a story about farm animals.
- read the story with expression. So the child will better consolidate the connection between text and imagination. For example, imitate the sounds of animals.
If you follow all these rules, then reading will turn into a fun way of learning and spending time. nine0003
5. Watch cartoons in English
Some parents do not allow their children to watch TV for a long time, which is completely justified.
However, many children spend hours in front of the TV. If this is your case, show your child cartoons in English. At first, it may be difficult for your child to grasp the meaning of the entire film, but then he will get used to it and begin to understand foreign speech better.
Do not be afraid that the child may not understand the meaning of the cartoon. Colorful pictures will capture his attention and he will constantly learn new things from the basics of the English language to topics such as history, science or the environment. nine0003
The best thing is to find cartoons in English that your child has already seen in Russian. With young children, you can watch the adventures of Pepa Pig, Masha and the Bear or the good old Disney cartoons.
6. Sign up for English language courses
Another great way to learn a foreign language is to study in a foreign language school in mini-groups. The big plus of this way of learning a language is that children simultaneously learn to communicate with each other.
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You can also hire a separate teacher for your child. The advantage here is that it will adapt to the characteristics of your child and give him all the time in class. The teacher will be able to give you full information about the progress of your child, as well as give additional tips for learning the language.
Both methods are good.
7. Be patient
Learning a foreign language is an investment you make in your child so that they can choose their future in the future. However, do not force your child to learn a language by force. Learning should be fun. It is also important to understand that each child learns at their own pace, which must be taken into account. nine0003
It is also necessary to remember that you will see the result of learning a language after some time and subject to regular classes. Efforts in learning the language will bring tangible results only in a few years. Be patient!
And the last piece of advice:
To introduce your child to the English-speaking culture, speak English to him every day.
