I would like to share the top 10 tools we have used in our home for reducing the language barrier when we adopted children who did not speak English. Just as a hammer may not work in a situation where you need a screwdriver, if one of the tools below doesn't work for you, don't be afraid to try another.

1. Use plenty of gestures and learn some basic sign language.





2. Learn key phrases such as "Are you hungry?" or "I love you" in your child's native tongue.





3. Use the internet to help you translate simple sentences that you need to say to your child.





4. Find people in your community who speak your child's language who might be willing to interpret for you.





5. Sing...often and with movement! Studies show that concepts learned through music are retained easier and longer. Your child can pick up English quicker through music.



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6. Buy a pocket dictionary/translator for the child who is old enough to read and write.





7. Buy picture dictionaries. The older child can read the words and the younger child can rely on the pictures.





8. Play Concentration, Husker-du or other matching games to teach your child English vocabulary as they make matches.





9. Play simple board games with limited English vocabulary. Candyland can teach colors, Chutes and Ladders can teach counting in English. Bingo and Battleship can teach letters and numbers.





10. Laugh! When your frustrations and miscommunications are at an all time high, don't be afraid to laugh at the situation. You'll laugh at it in the future anyway, so why not now?

My next posts will discuss each tool more indepth.