What a New Language Means for Your Child’s First Year Abroad

On the first morning abroad, a child may know how to say hello and still struggle to ask where the class is going. By the end of the term they might be joking with friends and still need help making sense of a history question. The language they need for lunch, lessons and friendships changes as their world gets bigger. Plan for those situations individually, and ask your child which one takes the most effort this week.

Start with what the child already knows

Before the move, tell the new school which languages the child uses and in which settings. Someone may speak with grandparents in one language, read confidently in another and have studied a third only in short lessons. Include recent work and a short description of subjects and activities they enjoy. Ask how the school will establish what the child understands about each subject while they are still learning the language used in class.

Talk about how adults will communicate with you. If a parent also needs to learn the local language, ask which messages can be translated, how a meeting with an interpreter can be arranged and which route to use for an urgent message. Try the school’s app or email system before the first day if you can. Save a few routine phrases that a parent can use at the gate. Give the child room to concentrate on their own learning while an adult handles agreements about attendance, fees or care.

Practise the first five minutes of important situations

1. Arriving at school. Walk the route, name the meeting point and practise what the child can say to the adult who will greet them. Ask what will happen if the usual person is away.
2. Getting help in a lesson. Choose a short phrase or signal to say “Can you show me?” or “Can you say that again?” Ask the teacher which response the child can expect.
3. Asking about an immediate need. Make sure the child knows how to ask for the toilet, water or the person who can help if they feel unwell. Agree with the school how to communicate any important medical or dietary information.
4. Joining in at break. Practise one way to ask to play and one way to find an adult if a game becomes difficult. A child might choose to start with an activity that has rules they already know.
5. Getting home. Walk through where the child will wait, how they can recognise the person collecting them and what they should do if plans change.

Learn the expressions the child is likely to hear in reply as well as the questions they can ask. Acting out a short exchange together is enough for a first attempt. Use a picture of the school or a map to make the situation recognisable. If they prefer to watch someone else first, ask whether they can join an orientation visit or meet a pupil who can show them around.

Make room for language outside lessons

Give your child somewhere to hear the new language during an activity they like. A regular football practice, a library group or helping to make something at a workshop gives language a purpose. Choose one activity to try and check what it expects of new members. Ask how the adult introduces an unfamiliar participant and whether there is time to observe before joining. Once the child feels comfortable with the activity, let them choose whether they want to keep going.

Keep using the languages the family can speak easily and well. A favourite story, a call with a grandparent or a conversation about what happened at school gives the child a way to think and express more than they may be able to say in their new language. The Bell Foundation’s guidance for multilingual learners emphasises finding out about their existing languages and drawing on them to support learning. Ask the school whether it would be helpful to discuss a new topic at home using the vocabulary you already share.

• Pick a familiar story or activity the child wants to keep doing at home.
• Ask the child for one phrase they have heard that they would like to understand.
• Use pictures, objects and demonstrations when a word is hard to explain.
• Check which translations the school can provide for notices, meetings and homework.

Notice where the language is doing the work

Imagine ten-year-old Farah understands a maths problem when it is drawn but often leaves answers blank when the same problem is written as a paragraph. She also speaks readily at netball. Her parents ask the teacher which words in the question are holding her up. The teacher can see that she understands the operation and is learning the language of word problems. Together they choose examples to practise, then check whether the same obstacle appears in other subjects.

In a different week, Farah may understand the lessons and find lunch difficult because people speak quickly and change topics. An adult can ask her where she would like to sit, who she already knows and whether a club gives her a more comfortable way into conversation. These are different questions from the ones about classwork. Discuss each with the person best placed to help, and let Farah say which needs attention first.

It is reasonable to ask teachers what evidence they use to track progress. One child may take part by listening, showing an answer or speaking with a partner before they are ready to speak in front of a class. Compare what the child can do across tasks and languages. If you or the school have concerns about learning or wellbeing beyond the demands of a new language, ask which staff can review those with you and what evidence from their previous school would be helpful.

Set three check-ins across the first year

Agree how you will share information without giving the child another assignment. If a teacher sends home a short list of the next topic’s words, ask which two or three would make the biggest difference. Look at a diagram or read a short explanation together in the language you share. Ask your child what they already know before helping them practise how to say it. Leave time in the evening for an activity where they can relax without having to translate.

In the first fortnight, check that the child knows who to ask for help and can manage essential parts of the day. At the end of the first term, ask which subjects and social settings now feel easier, and what still needs planning. Before the end of the year, ask what the next year will require, especially if lessons will use more technical vocabulary or the child will change classes. At each check-in, choose one action the school can take, one the household can take and one the child wants to try.

Track progress against the situations that matter to them. Ordering lunch on their own, being able to follow a science demonstration and inviting a friend to play are separate achievements. Write down a few of those moments as they happen. They give you and the child something more useful to look back on than a single judgement about how fluent they sound.