{"id":1,"date":"2023-01-23T12:13:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T12:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2495\/cgi\/addon_GT.cgi?s=GT::WP::Install::EIG+%28ariaholi%29+-+10.24.48.84+%5BWordpress%3b+\/var\/hp\/common\/lib\/Wordpress.pm%3b+461%3b+Hosting::gap_call%5D\/?p=1"},"modified":"2024-06-21T09:27:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T09:27:11","slug":"natural-language-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishthenaturalway.com\/hr\/natural-language-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Prirodno u\u010denje jezika: Kako izgleda i za\u0161to je to va\u017eno?"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]

During my years as a primary school teacher I worked with children from many different cultures and language backgrounds. Amazingly, there were children who came into school with very little or no English at the beginning of the year, and who would leave naturally speaking and engaging in English by the end of the year. Yet, there were always kids for whom new language acquisition was more of a challenge. What was it that made language learning easier to pick up for some kids and not others?<\/span><\/p>\n

While many factors (including the challenge of transitioning to a new country, social skills, and learning disabilities) can all be part of the equation, I saw a <\/strong><\/span>notable difference in literacy growth and ability among kids (both language learners and native speakers) who had greater daily exposure to English language based activities outside of school, via extracurricular pastimes, community events, family reading modeling and support at home, and kids who didn\u2019t have this luxury. All English as an Additional Language students learned in the same language-rich, play-based program offered at school, but <\/span><\/b>those for whom language development was encouraged in multiple authentic settings, tended to grasp language and literacy with markedly greater ease.<\/strong> Creative repetition, exposure and practice really is the key!<\/span><\/p>\n

So how is this connected to natural language learning?<\/b><\/p>\n

Natural language learning <\/b>focuses on communication skills and language exposure to develop an intuitive sense of language prior to a more in depth study of its rules and structures. I<\/strong><\/span>t is also holistic by nature<\/b>, meaning it affects the intellectual, mental, emotional, physical and creative aspects of an individual. <\/span>Acquiring language naturally is how you learned your first language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, you, as a parent, can greatly influence your child’s natural English language development by encouraging your child to:<\/span><\/p>\n