What Should a 4 Year Old Child Can Say in English-speaking Countries?

Can you read some English books? I am teaching my kids Japanese, and so I read them Japanese children's books to get them used to the sounds, etc. Good luck.

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Sesame Street is a good one! Interestingly enough (because our daughter is learning Chinese)...one of our kids absolute favorites is 'Nihao Kailan'. I think children pick up a lot when they are taught it in a song. Good Luck :)

ETA: It's not in this question...but in a previous one, L. mentioned living in China...so some of these suggestions won't work :/.

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Is your son going to start school in the U.S.? I don't quite understand why you're asking. Do you just want him to know because it's a good language to know as a second language, or does he need to start learning?

In any case, a four year old child can pretty much say and converse about anything. If you want some things to start with, think about the things that are most important in addressing a child's needs:
Where is the bathroom
I'm hungry. May I please have a snack.
I'm thirsty. May I please have a drink
Do you want to play with me?
Teach him how to say some of his favorite foods and the names for his favorite toys and games.
Another good phrase is "I need help."
Kids can learn a lot of English from watching TV. Find some good cartoons on the children's channels and let him watch one or two a day.
Check out some children's books from the library and read to him. He'll pick up a lot more that way than if you are just trying to randomly teach him phrases.

What is his primary language? Does it have any similarities to English? If so, maybe start with words that are similar so they will be easier to remember.

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Can you get Sesame Street? That's a great way to start! Picture books with easy pictures too - first say the Chinese, then the English words. Dog, cat, parts of the body, etc.

There's a song called "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and you touch them with both hands, bending over for knees and toes. Here's a youtube link for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8FwBSITW-4 (I hope you can get Youtube in Nanjing.) The other songs on the page, like The Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald Had a Farm are great too.

Then teach Mama, Daddy, grandma, grandpa, sister, brother, those kinds of words.

Furniture is okay, but I would start with the others. Fork and spoon, chopsticks and plate are good too. Then bed, floor, door, etc.

Maybe you can cut pictures out of the magazines of words he is learning. Make a game out of the pictures. Tape them on what you have in your house - a picture of a door on the door, a picture of a table on the table. Sounds silly, but you can make a game out of touching the picture, and saying the English. When he learns a new word, cut out a new picture. Then count (in English) the number of pictures he is collecting.

More than anything, make learning English fun!

D.

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I have friends who are bi-lingual - French and English. They spoke French exclusively at home to their children until the children reached about three. Then began speaking French and English. Pretty much by the time their kids reached Kindergarten they were fluent in both languages. They went to a mixture of English and French schools and continue to speak both languages at home - the oldest is in her 20s now.

Begin speaking to your son in English when at home. When asking him if he wants milk, for example, say it in both languages, eventually, just say it in English.

Are there any classes, outside of school, that he can attend? After school or summer programs?

And, yes, English TV will help also.

Where does your son go to school that he is not taught english?

I used to be a kindergarten teacher and had a lot of spanish students. I think the most important things to teach a child who does not speak english are simple phrases to express his needs. Such as - how to say he needs to go to the bathroom, he is thirsty/hungry, he is hurt/sick. It would also be important to teach him how to answer when someone asks what his name is, or parents names/address/phone number (I am thinking for possible emergency situations).

Otherwise, just start by teaching simple vocabulary - animals, foods, numbers/counting, colors, shapes...would be good places to start :-)

If you speak English well enough, and it seems like you do, I'd purchase the Hooked on Phonics series and start from the beginning and by the end of the program he will have mastered enough to be able to read and speak well. You can find these where children's books are sold at stores like Target and Walmart. Be sure to get the sets that include an audio cd. This way he can hear the proper way to pronounce letters and sounds.

I agree with the suggestions of having him watch children's programs on PBS. All of these shows, Sesame Street included, would be a great way to immerse him in the language.

If you are able to, check into ECFE summer programs in your school district. They often offer ESL (English as a second language) programs during the summer in preparation for the coming school year. Even non-ESL classes might be good, as he will get to interact with other children his own age and get some exposure to reading and writing basics.

Is he starting kindergarten in the fall? When they did testing they should have put him in a summer enrichment program if all he knows is the alphabet. Did he just come to America? I came to America when I was 2 1/2 and my parents put me into pre-school and I learned English very quickly. You need to start speaking some English at home. He doesn't have any American friends? Doesn't watch t.v?

Updated

Is he starting kindergarten in the fall? When they did testing they should have put him in a summer enrichment program if all he knows is the alphabet. Did he just come to America? I came to America when I was 2 1/2 and my parents put me into pre-school and I learned English very quickly. You need to start speaking some English at home. He doesn't have any American friends? Doesn't watch t.v?

mine could speak full english by then. she didn't know big words like intrepid but any word that her parents used normally throughout the day she knew as well.

so i would say that any words that your child can say in your native tongue mine would know in hers.

for kids though they are more interested in what they are playing with throughout the day. so teaching how to say words that he uses in his normal play would be a good start perhaps. like ball, can i play with that too?, want to play with me?, where are the toys?, car, truck and so on. write down all the thinks he says today then teach the most used words to him in English.

You and your husband take an effort to converse in your native language, as well as English, around the house. Everyday. For all regular stuff. The more exposure your son gets to languages (in the form of regular communication that mom and dad use), the more comfortable and fluent they get from an early age.
I have an Indian friend who speaks one language, her husband speaks another language, and neither of those is English. When their daughter was born, they talked to her in all 3 languages from day 1. Just usual regular stuff. Whatever word they spoke to her, they kept alternating in all 3 languages.
By the time she was 3, she could speak to her grandparents in dual languages, and speak to other friends in English - all perfectly fluently!

Ni Hao L.,
my kids are trilingual since birth. Even when they were babies, I spoke and sang to them in different languages. It is extra work because I basically repeat myself like a parrot :) Now, my 14 y/o speaks, reads, and writes in 2 languages other than English. You can tell he is not a native speaker, but he does pretty good. Now, he has been studying Mandarin on top of that for 3 years and he will pick up Spanish in High School. That would be a total of 5 languages before he starts college.
My 5 y/o speaks, reads a bit, and writes a bit, we are working on it about twice a week. He also studies Mandarin with a tutor and the big brother can check his oral progress and his character writing skills.
The main thing for you - is to talk about anything, point out and speak to the child. You are starting a bit late but your son is familiar with language already, so that is good. After that you introduce letters and match them to the sounds and finally you sound out the words together and start reading. My son is 5 now, as far as English, he prefers it and can express pretty much any thought in English, I have to remind him to say the same things in other languages, sometimes he gets annoyed, but eventually follows.
I personally think that language skills are so beneficial for kids. My husband and I both have command of 5 languages, some are different though, but it helps for example, my husband knows Japanese so he can check the kids' Mandarin writings. Good luck!