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How to Teach English to Young Learners
Interested in teaching English to young learners? Here’s how!
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What do we mean when we say “young learners”? This can mean TEFL students from kindergarten age right up to 10 years old - though in some settings, “young learners” can include teenagers up to the age of 16. That’s a vast range of proficiencies and ages, so there’s a lot to learn for any prospective TEFL teacher who wants to inspire and motivate.
That’s what we’re here for, though! Setting young learners on the path to English proficiency can provide fantastic opportunities in academia and business, making friends worldwide, and simply enjoying a language. It’s also a fantastic and endlessly rewarding way to make a living. So, if you want to know how to teach kids English, this is a great place to start!
Download our guide to teaching English online
What do you need to teach young learners?
A TEFL qualification
So, you want to teach young learners but are unsure where to start? The best way to start is by signing up for a TEFL course. Employers want prospective teachers to have at least 120 hours of TEFL study on their CVs, as 120 hours is the industry standard.
If you want to excel at teaching young learners, though, it’s a great idea to study for a specialised certificate. An advanced TEFL course like Teaching Young Learners is an amazing tool for anyone hoping to teach English to youngsters. It uses exciting learning techniques, including quizzes, video learning, and activities, to give you everything you need to start teaching children. Once you’ve completed an initial TEFL certificate, this course is the perfect boost to set your CV apart.
Do I need a degree?
Do you need a degree to teach young learners? Ultimately, it depends on the circumstances. If you’re teaching English abroad, then you potentially will. You'll need a degree to get a work visa for certain countries. However, there are plenty of countries where you can teach English abroad without a degree. As long as a country doesn’t require a degree for a visa/work permit, and you have a job offer that doesn’t ask for one, you’re good to go.
Depending on the employer, if you’re teaching English online and specifically hoping to teach young learners, you might need a degree. Companies that hire teachers sometimes ask for a degree. Again, however, not all of them do. A TEFL qualification and some teaching experience might be enough for some companies. Online teaching platforms, meanwhile, don’t usually have specific requirements and are more of a marketplace for parents to hire teachers. That being said, a degree can help in attracting potential clients.
Experience
Can you teach young learners without experience? Yes, absolutely. Many teachers' introduction to the TEFL world involves working with young people from kindergarten to 9 or 10 years old. This encompasses everything from the beginnings of English learning, including the alphabet, basic sounds, and putting sentences together, all the way through to creative tasks and intermediate grammar exercises.
Of course, experience is always desired, but everyone has to start somewhere.
Why do young learners need to learn English?
In the globalised world we live in today, English has very clearly emerged as the de facto global language for business and, in many ways, education and communication at large. As the world becomes smaller and increasingly interconnected, young students who can speak English gain a significant advantage in numerous different ways.
Being proficient in English opens doors to opportunities in higher education and, later, vast career opportunities worldwide. Many prestigious universities and international companies are English-speaking or require English proficiency. Reading, writing and speaking in English can significantly boost a young person’s academic and professional prospects, not just because of the language itself - learning any language from a tender age can lead to improved cultural sensitivity and cognitive abilities!
English can connect people from different and disparate cultures and backgrounds. Young people with ambitions to travel and work globally can use English to connect with different people, traverse the planet more easily, and gain a deeper understanding of different cultures.
It’s important to note that English is the dominant language of the internet, and about 55% of the internet is in English. This doesn’t just include individual websites, either. Social media discourse, academic articles, games, and other online media are predominantly in English. By learning English through structured lessons, young learners can properly understand the online media they consume.
Download our guide to teaching English around the world
Different methods to improve English language learning
Teaching young learners English can be done in myriad exciting ways. You can use various great teaching methods with young English learners, from music and podcasts to physical movement, games and peer interaction. When you’re teaching English to young learners, it’s really all about engagement, interaction and keeping kids interested in what you’re saying.
Let’s explore specific teaching methods for creating exciting, appealing lessons for young English learners.
Creating a visually rich learning environment
Visual prompts and gestures are invaluable tools when teaching young learners English. It's essential to tailor your materials to suit your young students, ensuring they remain engaged and actively participate in the English learning process. Visual aids can be particularly beneficial for young learners—young learners tend to be more visual, and so having clear imagery allows for lessons that provide more clarity and comprehension for basic, fundamental parts of the English language, like the alphabet, introductory grammar clauses, and simple sounds.
Utilising pictures, flashcards, and diagrams is highly effective. For instance, when teaching young students the basics, such as the alphabet, colourful and engaging pictures can capture their attention. Flashcards are perfect for interactive games, helping teach vocabulary related to grammar rules like tenses, such as "is/was". Diagrams can illustrate differences between tenses or conditional sentences, making abstract concepts more tangible for young minds. As an English teacher, you have the creativity to decide how best to use these tools to teach young learners.
Flashcards, pictures, and posters are great ways to bring simple English concepts to life. For example, assigning letters of the alphabet to certain animals and objects, like A for apple, B for bumblebee, and so on, can help young learners associate words and sounds with certain letters.
Realia - as in, real stuff! - is also helpful. Take, for example, restaurant menus or clothing items. Young learners can associate what they see and how English words are pronounced.
Use memory tricks to remember grammar rules
Teaching grammar can sometimes be difficult, which is why so many fantastic grammar resources are available online for TEFL teachers. In terms of teaching methods for young learners, though, one of the best and most lasting ways to teach grammar is through mnemonic devices (memory tricks, if you prefer), which can be done in a number of different ways.
Committing certain phrases to memory can come through simple repetition. Using the same bank of phrases repeatedly to commit certain grammar rules and sounds to memory is never a bad idea. Incorporating visual elements, like flashcards, is a very effective way of keeping young English learners engaged physically and mentally with certain sounds and phrases.
Acronyms, acrostics, and visuals are also good ways to make some aspects of English memorable. As you might have remembered certain acronyms for exams in the past, young learners like to use similar devices to learn a language. Acrostics can be quickly done on a whiteboard and can help add another handy visual element. You could even write acrostic poems with your learners when they become more advanced!
Using a daily routine for language practice
For young learners, predictability and consistency are both incredibly important. This is true whether you’re teaching English, physics, the piano or anything else; fostering an environment where young learners have a strong sense of what to expect is crucial. This is primarily for psychological reasons - it’s hard to teach English to young learners who feel they have too much thrown at them. From a developmental point of view, consistency and routine are incredibly important in building vocabulary, phonics and other crucial parts of language.
If you can, for example, set up a situation for young learners where they introduce themselves and talk about their plans for the day or the weather - even in straightforward English - you’re building something lasting and important. Confidence will grow, and learners will be keen to add more detail to their daily statements.
Going over some of the same words and phrases, be it with flashcards or other visual prompts, will also encourage young learners to commit more to memory, and it can be a fun, predictable part of the lesson that students look forward to.
Using music, chants, and movement
Introducing music while teaching English to young learners is another ideal way to engage and relax students in your lessons. Nursery rhymes exist for a reason - they’re simple melodies with easily understood lyrics that tell a story. When we learned our own native languages growing up, we were likely exposed to nursery rhymes from a very young age. They help to define words and phrases and deal with syllables.
Learning through song is highly effective for improving punctuation, pronunciation, and other core language skills. This engaging method helps learners of all ages grasp and retain simple phrases, regardless of their prior experience. The same is true for chants, which can be constructed incredibly easily. Kids love chanting—you can create some fun chants to name the stationary in your classroom or the days of the week! The possibilities are truly limitless, and these chants will undoubtedly help to aid vocabulary retention.
As for movement? For English teachers, gestures and body language are crucial in conveying tone and meaning to young learners. Demonstrating actions with your hands or using simple gestures can help bridge the gap between words and actions, enhancing vocabulary retention for children. Total Physical Response (TPR) is a useful teaching technique that uses physical expression to break down more complex ideas. This can include acting out verbs like “smiling”, “dancing”, “waving”. Including actions can aid storytelling and add an interactive element to classroom instructions, like “open your books”. A simple game like “Simon Says” is an example of TPR, and it’s a very useful tool for building comprehension when you teach English to kids.Add games to make study sessions more fun
Young learners want to play, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, games in the TEFL classroom are a great way to learn. Through trial and error, and through being purely engaged with a fun activity, English teachers can impart all kinds of vital lessons and English language skills.
Again, we can look to ‘Simon Says’ as an example of a perfect learning game for youngsters. A teacher calls out instructions in English, and the learner has to follow them—or they’re out of the game! Descriptive games, in which one individual is given the name of a person or object and other students have to give clues, are unmatched for building vocabulary and comfort within a language.Whether you’re using physical materials, video games or vocal instructions, English games are an ideal way to keep a class of young learners interested, entertained and ready to learn more.
Repeat previous lessons in every class
Sometimes, you’ll need to repeat yourself when you teach English. By repeating yourself, young learners will remember new words and phrases that are important to building their vocabulary and understanding of English. So, sometimes, you’ll need to repeat yourself.
Do you get the point yet? You will need to make your lessons snappy and engaging, but you’ll need to cover the basics repeatedly so that your learners understand the absolute fundamentals of English. It doesn’t mean saying the same thing repeatedly, though - use the same lessons in different contexts, whether it’s games, arts and crafts activities, songs, or whatever you prefer.
At the start of every lesson, recap the previous lesson. Ensure your learners feel a level of progression and can remember what was covered before. That way, you can build confidence while you're teaching English!Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the main principles of teaching English to young learners?
The main principles of teaching English to young learners are to keep kids engaged, encourage them to be expressive, and use different activities to boost vocabulary, familiarity with different grammar rules, and enthusiasm for the language more broadly.
Q. What are the biggest challenges in teaching English to young learners?
Keeping the attention of young learners and adapting lessons to suit them can be challenging. However, once you’re familiar with teaching young learners, you’ll find it to be a hugely rewarding experience.
Q. Why is it important to teach English to young learners?
English is a global language. 55% of online content is in English, the lingua franca of international business. Teaching English to young learners gives children the tools to find educational and economic opportunities globally.
Q. How do you teach English to young learners?
There’s no one way to teach English to young learners. However, we’d always recommend creating a visually rich learning environment, using memory tricks to remember grammar rules, using a daily routine for language practice, using music, chants, and movement, adding games to make study sessions more fun and repeating your lessons so they’re committed to memory.