If your child's English isn't progressing as quickly as you'd hoped, the cause is often not a lack of effort but a teaching habit that quietly works against the child. Here are five common mistakes we see — and what to do instead.
1. Over-emphasising grammar
Drilling grammar rules and asking children to memorise sentence structures is one of the worst habits in early English teaching. It makes children afraid to speak, because every time they open their mouth they wonder: "What if I make a mistake?" Confidence to speak comes first; grammar comes from exposure.
2. Teaching through translation
"Apple means ပန်းသီး." This habit slows down the brain. The child learns to translate before speaking — and translation takes time. Instead, show the apple, say the word. Image and word, directly connected. The brain is fast when it doesn't have to translate.
3. Shaming children for mistakes
Everybody makes mistakes — children most of all. When a child mispronounces a word and the adults laugh or correct harshly, the child's confidence collapses. They stop trying. Mistakes are not failure; mistakes are how language is acquired.
4. Rote memorisation, word-by-word
Memorising words on a list looks like progress in the short term, but the words don't stick because the child doesn't understand the context. Words live in sentences and situations — that's where they should be learnt.
5. No English environment beyond the classroom
If a child only sees English during English class, the rest of the week the language fades. Cartoons, songs, simple English phrases at home ("Let's go!", "Come here!") — these create the environment children need to consolidate what school teaches them.
At SSELC, we built our entire methodology around avoiding these five traps. Read more about how we teach.