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Playing outside and being tired of homework, English learning can be boring for our children. Even if we, as parents, know the importance of learning English and try to encourage them, sometimes it's not enough.
What should we do in such situations as parents and which professional platforms should we turn to?
In this article, we have answered various questions for you. Let's talk about why we should teach our children English and which platforms do it best.
Nowadays, English has become the language of science, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. From a young age, our children are also trying to learn English in schools. This is sometimes not enough, and we, as parents, need to create areas outside of school where our children can practice English.
So why should our children learn English? Here are the benefits of learning:
1) International Communication
English is one of the most spoken languages in the world, being the official language in 50 countries and spoken by approximately 375 million people worldwide. Speaking English does not only mean communicating with native speakers, but since it's the most common second language worldwide, you'll probably need English to communicate with someone from another country. Teaching your children English will enable them to communicate easily with people around the world in the future.
2) Climbing Career Ladders Successfully
As you know, English is the most effective language in the business world, and knowing English has become mandatory for those who want to work in a global position. Our children learning English from a young age will relieve them of many burdens in the future. Regardless of the profession they choose, knowing English will allow them to climb career ladders more easily and quickly, and they will be able to communicate with people from different cultures and incredibly increase their general knowledge.
3) Most of the Best Movies, Books, and Music are Produced in English
Although a career is very important for our children, they will be able to understand, listen to, and enjoy most of the things we enjoy watching and listening to without the need for translation or subtitles when they learn English. Learning a language is also about enjoyment. As parents, maybe sometimes we focus too much on career, school, and success and forget that our children also need to have fun. Being able to understand a movie of a favorite actor without subtitles will greatly expand your children's horizons and contribute to their intellectual accumulation.
4) English is The Key for Internet Usage
About 565 million people use the internet daily, and about 52% of the websites they visit are in English. Whether your child becomes an academician, a teacher, or an engineer, no matter which profession they choose, they will always have easy access to a large number of resources on the internet because they know English.
5) Learning English Contributes to our Children's Personal and Mental Development
Each foreign language has a different structure, causing children to exercise their minds in various ways. Moreover, learning these different language structures from an early age and starting to use them in daily life allows children to develop different ways of thinking. This development also increases their self-confidence, enabling them to stand tall and become self-confident individuals. Children who internalize a foreign language understand intercultural differences better, and their intellectual development is positively affected.
As a father of a girl, I tried to teach my daughter English personally for years. Although I could teach a few things occasionally, in general, it wasn't enough. I realized that there's a big difference between knowing and speaking a language and teaching it to someone. Especially if the person you're trying to teach is a child. Because as parents, we don't know the child's mental state, psychology, and how to approach them during the teaching phase, which is quite natural.
I decided to get professional help for my daughter's future, but what should my criteria be?
After my extensive research, I came to the following conclusions. The features we expect from platforms that will provide English education to our children should be as follows:
In the industry, the platforms offering online English education are more or less known. Before examining all these platforms one by one, we prepared a table by rating them out of 5 based on the features they should have:
| Criteria | Flalingo Kids | Novakid | Cambly Kids | Preply Kids | LiveXP Kids | Lingo Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User-Friendly Interface | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.0 |
| Visual and Auditory Materials | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.4 |
| Adaptive Learning | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| Real-Time Feedback | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| Secure Environment | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.4 |
| Communication with Real Teachers | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.4 |
| Progress Tracking | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.4 |
| Total Score | 31.1 | 28.4 | 29.6 | 29.4 | 28.2 | 23.4 |
Flalingo Kids is a platform where you can track your child's progress with its modular course system. It's ideal for beginners with professional English teachers whose native language is Turkish. All teachers are certified for kids, and there is unlimited access to Oxford University Press materials. However, a glaring oversight is the customer service reaching out without the required data protection permission.
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Cons:
Novakid offers one-on-one online English lessons for children. According to user reviews, it has received 55% positive and 45% negative feedback. The major criticisms have been about the quality of teachers, customer service, and payment issues. Users are advised to conduct thorough research before choosing the platform.
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Cons:
Cambly Kids offers children video lessons with options for 15 and 30 minutes. Despite having various teacher options, there's no opportunity to regularly have lessons with the same teacher. Furthermore, some of the main criticisms of the platform are non-professional individuals giving lessons and payment-related issues.
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Cons:
Preply Kids is a platform where you can purchase different lesson packages from a specified teacher. It's compatible with various devices, but the platform has shortcomings such as the lack of content specifically designed for children and the inability to change teachers after buying a package if not satisfied.
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English Ninjas Kids stands out with its half-hour live lessons and abundant English materials. However, there are issues regarding teacher selection, payments, and customer service.
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LiveXP is compatible with different devices and offers one-on-one online lessons. While there's flexibility in scheduling, the lack of a lesson tracking system and lessons with non-professional teachers are seen as drawbacks.
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Cons:
Lingo Kids is compatible with various devices and offers flexible scheduling options. There's an option for private lessons on Zoom and lessons in small groups. However, there are issues in payments and customer service.
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Cons:
Online English education offers an effective and flexible learning method for children. However, each of these platforms has its advantages and limitations. Hence, it's critical for us, as parents, to choose the one that best suits our children's needs.
In conclusion, selecting a platform based on your child's learning style, interests, and needs will yield the most effective results. When deciding on the most suitable platform, it's beneficial to take advantage of trial lessons or demo versions to get to know the platform and its teachers closely.
We hope this article will assist you in making an informed decision.
