Elite English Tips for achieving higher standards

Expose your child to native speaker standard English as much as possible

Allow your child to watch English TV. Even cartoons can help improve English standards. Of course, parents must exercise supervision for young children and choose appropriate programmes. Older children should try to watch the news on a daily basis or educational programmes. However, do not make it a chore. If a child thinks they are being forced to do something it will have the opposite effect and make them dislike learning English.

Hire a private tutor - click here for our advice regarding this.

Enroll your child in English activities

From as early an age as possible, enroll your child in activities that involve groups of children such as camps. Activities like cooking, music and arts and crafts are far more effective in improving English than classes which focus only on academic aspects.

Choose worksheets and exercises carefully

Many of the materials available in Hong Kong book stores are not suitable for the children in Hong Kong. There are a few reasons for this. Some are imported from overseas and do not match the local needs. Others are written badly by non-native speakers and model bad English. You do not want your child to learn incorrect English.

If you want to give your child additional worksheets the areas to focus on are:

• Reading Comprehension
• Tenses
• Prepositions
• Writing

We are currently designing a range of e-books to match Hong Kong students' needs. Check back for updates.

Make reading a habit

This is the single most important of my English tips. See our page on reading skills for more information about this.

Join the annual Speech Festival

This gives your child chance to not only learn how to recite a poem but also build confidence in performing it in front of a group of people. Click here for more information about the speech festival.

For more elite English tips visit our 'bilingual child' page

---

---