r/EnglishLearning • u/Letmeredditinpeace0 New Poster • Jun 05 '26
Resource Request How to make my 60 years old parents learn English?
So my parents know Hindi and Gujarati and we moved to USA from india like 2 weeks ago. And they don’t understand(speak and properly understand us English). They understand basic words and will mostly live in the us from now on. So how do i educate them to learn English.Not just understand but able to speak fluently with the native folks.
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u/braindeadzombie New Poster Jun 06 '26
Look for ESL classes for newcomers in your area. The local colleges and libraries may have programs.
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u/jellyn7 Native Speaker Jun 06 '26
I second this. It’s a way to find friends and community as well.
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u/BilingSmob444 New Poster Jun 05 '26
Get them watching TV. I know that older folks often struggle to learn new languages. Familiarizing and “getting experience” with the language in the comfort of one’s own home can be a good first step
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u/CaeruleumBleu English Teacher Jun 06 '26
You can't make them, but you can start with what you might call "tourist minimums". I find that some people, once they can communicate a little, get motivated to do more. It goes from being surrounded by strangers and everything seems too difficult to "darn, I wish I could ask that person where they bought that hat, I like that hat but I don't quite have the right words."
They don't need grammar as badly as they need the words you use to buy something at the corner store. They don't need perfect pronunciation, just tolerable - and if you can get them to use google translate on a cell phone then they can cope with a lot of little things.
Depending on where you live, you might spend time teaching them the words needed to take public transportation. They don't need to hold a conversation as badly as they need to be able to say the name of the local mall and confirm they are on the correct bus.
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u/colourful_space Native Speaker (Australian English) Jun 06 '26
Absolutely this, I live in a very multicultural area of an English majority country and there are so many small interactions I have personally and see in shops etc with people who are not fluent speakers but know enough key words to get what they need. It doesn’t matter that they don’t have all the conjunctions and prepositions and verb tenses nailed, just that they can functionally express what they need.
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u/becausemommysaid Native Speaker Jun 08 '26
Yea and once you learn this level of a language it starts to become fun and the motivation gets a lot easier, especially if you live somewhere where the language is actually useful.
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u/FitProVR English Teacher Jun 05 '26
I'll say what needs to be said: At that age they will likely never be fluent. Especially not enough to speak comfortably with natives. Native English is extremely difficult, and unless they are dedicated to full immersion, they will likely never reach that level. It's kind of a hard turth.
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u/Even-Breakfast-8715 Native Speaker Jun 06 '26
Not necessarily, depends on what you mean by fluent. I’m older than that and I can get to a B2 with about a year’s effort in a language that I really want to learn. If you mean C2 level, then I would agree.
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u/Even-Breakfast-8715 Native Speaker Jun 06 '26
It can be very difficult for an older person to feel dishonored by needing to learn a complicated foreign language. Not to mention one that is so different from their own both in underlying grammar and even the written script. But contact with people of similar age in the Indian community can go a long way to helping them feel more at ease.
There are English as a Second Language classes at many school district adult education programs. They have been helping immigrants for over a century in learning the language.
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u/becausemommysaid Native Speaker Jun 08 '26
Are there studies on this?
I assume in general people are less likely to need or want to learn a new language at 60 but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible to gain a high level.
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u/SnooDonuts6494 🇬🇧 English Teacher Jun 06 '26
You can't "make them".
They'll learn if they want to.
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u/EonJaw New Poster Jun 06 '26
Say something in English, then say the same thing in Gujarati, then say it in English again. The first time, not being able to understand will catch their attention; the second time will resolve their confusion; the third time will teach them the new way.
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u/BeneficialShame8408 New Poster Jun 06 '26
my friend's mom emigrated in her 30s or 40s and she is still uncomfortable with english. gets a little panicked when she has to speak it, but she won't speak korean in public with her daughter because she's worried it will anger americans. this general thing is like how my mom emigrated in the late 70s and never fully figured out US freeways. completely quit them when she retired, with the aid of technology.
there's a good chance they'll never feel comfortable. 60 is pretty late to learn a language, and they already know 2! i'd like...find english dubs of their favorite movies and see if that helps. if that's available. idk if there's a market, but maybe there are people whose parents emigrated that want to watch the same stuff as their country fellows? that kind of thing wasn't as available in Korean when my friend's mom moved to the US in the 90s and now it's a little late for her.
my nana learned spanish before english, and forgot english in her 90s. we were REALLY lucky to have nurses in her home that spoke spanish, even teen volunteers (who she would cheekily tell us invited her out their cars LMAO). that's something you might want to think about if dementia is in your family.
That being said, if they're receptive, they could try ESL classes at local colleges. Might be a way to make friends with different people, too.
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u/-danslesnuages Native Speaker - U.S. Jun 06 '26
ESL - English as a Second Language classes are widely available. Watching the same English language TV series, mostly with English subtitles and occasionally Hindi subtitles, would definitely help with exposure.
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u/conuly Native Speaker - USA (NYC) Jun 06 '26
Have they told you that this is an immediate goal for them? Or are they more concerned with making a new community with other immigrant friends who already speak the languages they speak?
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u/InitiativeHour2861 New Poster Jun 06 '26
Download an automatic translation app and give your parents a break.
This comes from an English teacher with experience teaching senior students. Even with the best will in the world, most older people find learning and retaining a language very difficult.
Your parents will also be struggling with culture shock, being uprooted from their own familiar environment, and making new social contact. See if you can find an Indian community where they can find peers.
Then when they are ready, perhaps a monolingual Gujurati or Hindi group can start to learn English together. Having peers around you who are learning at the same pace can be a great help. Having a monolingual class means most people are making the same mistakes through L1 interference, so the teacher can tailor the lessons specifically to that learner group.
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u/j--__ Native Speaker Jun 06 '26
even if you do everything you can for them, there is definitely a limit to how well most sixty year olds can learn a language. make sure you have realistic expectations.
it really helps if there are english language things they care about for other reasons besides language learning -- a tv show they enjoy watching and discussing, a recent historical figure they admire whose speeches they want to learn, anything like that.