Background
Parents who speak at least one foreign language are becoming increasingly common throughout Europe. Many of these parents, however, are reluctant to introduce a foreign language to their children without the help of a professional teacher. This is understandable as most parents have not trained either as a teacher or as a language professional.
PASS project has developed a set of support materials to help you to acquire the skills necessary for introducing a foreign language to children alongside their general development. The materials do not require you to have either professional teaching knowledge or linguistic education. The support materials are designed to help you to transform many situations into learning activities. You are provided with tools for integrating learning into everyday activities with your children. As a result, no ‘extra' time for learning is needed.
The support materials have been created for eight languages (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latvian, Russian and Dutch), piloted in five countries and are now available for you on this site.
The consortium for the project consists of nine institutions from six EU Member States: Latvia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. It also involves three associative partners: the European Parents Association, the Ministry of Education in Brandenburg and the Turkish Lifelong Learning Centre.
Aim
The aim of the project is to enhance Early Language Education and family learning by providing you with the tools for introducing a foreign language to 4-7 year-old children. This language education aids the development of children's creativity and thinking skills using everyday situations.
Materials
All the material is free to download and print. Please watch the presentation videos and read our blog posts to have a better idea about using PASS materials.
The PASS material is divided into two Phases:
- Phase 0 will help you to establish a tradition of asking open ended questions to your child. It will also create the context for introducing the target language to your child if you have not already done so.
- Phase 1 will familiarise you with a number of tasks for developing the language and thinking skills of your child. You will be able to use these tasks in any situation that is typical of your family.
After registration you will be able to access all the material in the download section. When you have used the materials for some time, please share your feedback by filling in the feedback form. This will help us to improve the material and offer better support for you and your child.
Requirements
You have to be competent in the target language to the extent of being able to communicate in that language (i.e. B2 up level according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
