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One of my earliest memories from my childhood is playing with my Mum and my little brother at home, and my Mum teaching us some English words.
She told us ‘a box’ is what we call ‘pudełko’ in Polish – my mother tongue – ’a dress’ is ‘sukienka’, and ‘a book’ is ‘książka’. Almost 30 years on, I can still remember those were the exact words my Mum taught us. So simple yet so powerful!
At the time, it was just a game. There’s no way I could have known then what the point of that game was. I didn’t know why it would be useful. All I knew was that there were some other people in the big world who used other words to describe the simple everyday objects that we all knew. And it was a fun thing to know a couple of those words.
But as I got a little bit older, I began to understand that those words – ‘a box’, ‘a dress’ and ‘a book’ – were part of a more complex reality. They were part of another language! The language I would hear on Cartoon Network – a channel my brother and I watched without understanding what was being said. Watching the cartoon characters, their actions and their facial expressions seemed enough to get the gist of what was going on.
It was around that time that I developed a funny habit, which became another clear memory from my early childhood. I started spending time on my own in the garden at home, ‘speaking English’ out loud. Of course, it wasn’t English. It was just sounds that mirrored what I’d heard on Cartoon Network and in American children’s films. It was my own version of American English.
I would even tell my little brother that I was ‘speaking English’, and that he too would be able to do it when he’s a bit older. I think he believed me!
It was all a game, a bit of fun. Little did I know that it would lead me to the life I’m leading now. That I would graduate with a distinction from a well-recognised British university, that I would get married to a British man, that I would hold a senior editor role in an exciting organisation, and that I would run a community, blog and YouTube channel for language learners in English!
My Mum’s little game – teaching me how to say ‘box’, ‘dress’ and ‘book’ in English – led me to a life where languages (not just English but several others!) are a focal point. It shows how powerful exposing your child to a foreign language at an early age can be.
And now I’m a mother myself and I want to open up this exciting world of languages to my own daughter.
When my daughter was born, I started reading to her very early on. I read to her in Polish to lay the foundation of what would become one of her two mother tongues. I find it fascinating how excited she is about looking at colourful images and hearing me say the words that describe them. She can’t communicate with her own words yet but I’m sure the language she absorbs now will stay with her forever.
And that’s why I’ve created My First Words. I wanted to help parents like myself introduce their kids to foreign languages early on.
When you’re a child, learning a language is just a bit of fun. It’s not a ‘chore’ or a ‘task’. You can incorporate it into your child’s usual activities, and make it interesting and fun. It can be part of your bedtime routine or something you do together as a family. It’s easier to get them excited about foreign languages than it would be once they’re teenagers or young adults.
So, with My First Words, you can start early. Because if you don’t, you never know the life that you would have had, the opportunities that may never come up if you didn’t.