Russian abroad: is it necessary to force your child to read

Why is the issue of reading so acute?

Abroad, the Russian language in a child rarely keeps on its own. If school, friends, circles and favorite books have long been in English, reading Russian begins to require a separate effort. This is why parents cling to books so much: it seems that if a child stops reading, the language will start to go away even faster.

But your child feels it differently. For him, reading in Russian can be associated not with pleasure, but with tension: reading slower, harder to understand, making mistakes more often and hearing that you need to “be a little more patient.”

Should I be forced?

In a nutshell, forcing hard usually doesn’t help. Yes, sometimes your child really sits down and reads, but at the same time easily accumulates irritation to the Russian language itself. The book then becomes a symbol of pressure rather than a way to support speech, vocabulary and literacy.

This does not mean that reading can be simply let go. Rather, it is important to change the approach itself: not to fight for the number of pages, but to re-make Russian a language in which pleasure, interest and small success are possible.

What works better at home

Short, realistic rituals work best. For example, reading together for 10 minutes, choosing books slightly lighter than a child, listening to audio in parallel with text, reading roles, discussing funny episodes, rather than checking every word.

It helps when your child feels the choice. Not “today we read because we need to”, but “let’s choose one story that is really interesting to learn”. Even if reading is still small, it is important that your child has the feeling that Russian is not only a duty.

When help is especially helpful

Sometimes it is difficult for a family to maintain a calm balance. Parents understand what to read, your child resists, and any conversation about Russian quickly turns into an argument. At such a moment, a teacher who is able to regain interest in the language through suitable texts, conversation, reading without shame and a sense of power is especially useful.

The goal is not to make your child read the most. The goal is to keep the Russian language alive: so that your child can read, understand, express thoughts and not feel that the native language is an eternal heavy duty. If reading is slowed down because of letters and syllables, look at the article Why your child confuses Russian and English letters.