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Many of us parents get very impressed by kids who read a lot. No doubt these kids are usually (not definitely) quite proficient in the launguage as a result.
My 2 kids are avid readers but I also want to attribute their proficiency in the language to many other painless way that they've learned the language:
1. Get a pen-pal
Make sure it's strictly no-email. There's a web site that promotes kids'literacy by writing to pen-pals. For US$10, they do a match and parents from both side has to communicate and agree to the friendship and mode of writing first. So, you get to know your kid's pen-pal's family too. It's quite safe this way. My daughter got a pen-pal from US and they've a great time writing to each other.
2. This one is most suitable for dads and sons. Watch English football. The commentators of the match have very good spoken English and their expressions are often peppered with metaphors. My son learn alot from listening to the commentary.
3. Listen to audio books
My kids like the dramatised typed. For narratives, the narrator has to be really good to be able to do voices of a few characters. My kids had enjoyed The Chronicles of Narnia Series. The BBC version is great.
4. Try our best not to speak Singlish when responding to them even if they bring it back home from school. Make it a rule that they have to switch once they are home with parents. This is very hard to enforce, needs perseverance but really necessary. How they speak in school, that we can't control.
5. Listen and discuss lyrics of songs. Even Micheal Jackson songs have morals to learn. Eg. Man In The Mirror, that it's easier if change for the better begin with oneself first.
6. Watch musicals. Young ones go for Disney's and older ones can go for Les Miserables, Phantom Of the Opera, Fiddler on the roof, etc, etc. Musicals have very meaningful lyrics that are written so aptly to fit the stories and music.
7. Save money, don't buy books until you're sure you want to keep it on your bookshelves. Borrow from the library. This also teach our kids how to be thrifty.
8. Watch some old Americal sitcoms like Wonder Years. It's much better than Zach&Cody or High School Musical.
I'm sharing this with all parents because these are the stuff we do with our children and it's so fun and enjoyable. I'm proud to say that with all these activities, they do not need any English tuition and they're doing very well. The best way to learn English is to use it and what better way than through interactions and experiencing how the language is applied.
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