Teaching kids a new language from home

Since SA schools closed to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, some parents have resorted to home schooling their kids to keep their brains and bodies active until they can return to classrooms.

As many parents take on this unfamiliar task, a Port Elizabeth isiXhosa teacher has urged parents to use the time as an opportunity to teach their kids a new language.

Antoinette Kleb, who teaches the language to non-Xhosa speaking children and adults, said for children she uses the art of storytelling to teach the language in an informal manner.

“When teaching a new language, a young age is best because it’s easier for them to grasp it and I have found that kids love stories, so what better way to teach them a language than through what they love?” Kleb said.

On her YouTube page, Kleb has uploaded videos of herself reading various story books in isiXhosa, providing English subtitles to help viewers interpret what is being said. .

“The thing about learning a language through reading is that sometimes you struggle with pronunciation but when you have someone reading and translating for you then you are able to learn both spelling and pronunciation,” she said.

Kleb has also published a series of isiXhosa workbooks from level 1 to 7 and a teachers’ handbook to be distributed to schools.

“I published Masithethe isiXhosa (ETA) language courses in 1977.

“With co-author Andre Viljoen I published the  Molo — The Xhosa/English Phrase Book with Juta in 1994.

“This was followed by Molo — The Easy Xhosa Grammar Book in 1998,” Kleb said.

She would be uploading more visual content reading from her own books, she said.

“I’m working towards getting the books into schools and doing readings online but I’ve had to put a lot of my plans on hold due to the lockdown.

“As soon as we’re all able to work again, I will be shooting videos with a Xhosa-speaking colleague to upload online as soon as possible,” Kleb said.

With English as her mother tongue, Kleb said she began  learning isiXhosa in university and had been teaching the language for more than 40 years.

“I learnt the language in university after my father suggested I take it as one of my subjects since the others clashed.

“Seventeen years of my teaching experience from 1977-1993 at the Port Elizabeth College of Education involved equipping and training primary schoolteachers to teach the language,” she said.

Kleb said her focus was on communicative language that could be used in daily conversations.

“Many programmes tend to focus on solely teaching vocabulary without equipping the learner to use these words in communicative context or the other extreme which over-emphasises the grammatical component of the language, neglecting to develop the listening and speaking skills,” she said.

Kleb advised parents to explore  virtual platforms to teach their kids a new language from home.

These could be online or TV programmes, she said.

“A lot of things are moving online these days and if you have access to the internet you have an advantage.

“Those who want to start with isiXhosa can watch me on YouTube where I have about 20 books that I’ve read, with subtitles,” Kleb said.