What's the best way to teach someone English?

Question

I want to teach my grandma English. She currently speaks only Khmer (Cambodian) and knows just a few phrases in English but not enough to have a conversation with someone in English. I've tried teaching her before but it's really difficult because she can't pronounce certain letters like the "f" or the letter "j" because those sounds don't exist in the Khmer language.

English also uses "is" and "are"... verbs "to be" and in the Khmer language, there's not really any words for "to be" and my grandma doesn't understandy why you need the verb "to be" in the English language.

My grandma's 77 years old and I don't know if it's possible to teach her English because I've heard that as kids, we have this part of our brain that enables us to learn languages but if we don't exercise that part of our brains, it's gone.

So I was wondering, what's the best way to teach her English and are there any videos or program for teaching someone who's Cambodian to learn English?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

The best way I know to learn English, or any langueage for that matter, is to be immersed in it. If everybody is speaking the same language, english in this example, the person would have no choice but to learn it to be able to communicate. Hope this helps.

The Syko Ward

Answer 2

No one is ever really old or too young for anything.... One of the ways I know would be to use pictures for objects, locations (local, international, venues, events), and situations (current events). You might also want to find one of those books for children that have illustrative vocal lessons. There are those that have drawn pictures of tongue/teeth/jaw positions given certain syllable sounds for pronunctiation and enunciation. If all else fails you might want to get her a dictionary translating english to khmer. In any case, it's pretty obvious you care that your grandma is well-equipped for conversation in event that there would be any unusual occurrences or even an emergency. There are a lot of websites which may offer something interesting for her. If she likes cooking, you might want to concentrate on anything to do with cooking. If she likes current events or sports, or entertainment, same thing. She might also be interested to look back to some roots. In which case, you might also want to check: http://www.khmerinstitute.org/culture/proverbs.html. Good luck! And have fun!

Answer 3

Well, Ma'am, you could try using pictograms with the word they mean in English under the picture. Like a picture of a suitcase with the words "suitcase" written underneath. Start with things she can identify in daily life with , such as spoons, chairs tables etc and then move on to bigger things. Encourage her to read out the word with you to get how to pronounce the word. It might be also wise to acquaint your grandmother with the English letters of the alphabet if she doesn't know it. Do not worry about grammar just yet, ket her get to grips with the differnet things and only start using the basics of grammar once she has developed a vocabulary of about a 100 words. That, I think, will help you teach your grandmother english. I would also like to add that it is remarkable to me that you have such determination to teach your grandmother,given her advanced age - she must be very proud of you.

Answer 4

When I first moved to Holland, I made everyone put up yellow stickies on everything in the house , to help me get the basics. Private lessons will also help her. Good luck!Jx

Answer 5

Total submersion!

If anybody in the family has kids who only speak English, have her babysit!