I’ve got a child starting soon whose home language isn’t English.

They’ll be about 22 months old when they start. Their main exposure to English has been through children’s TV programmes. The parents’ English is very good.

It’s a very long time since I’ve looked after a child whose first language isn’t English, so I’m looking for ideas and information.

What do you have in place? What works and what doesn’t? Going back a long way we were always told to get books and signs in the child’s home language, but I’ve often wondered why, if I can’t pronounce them properly and the child is too young to read?

As the child is just learning to talk, I’ve asked parents to record some of the words/sounds he says/attempts to say and tell me what they mean. I’m going to use photo picture cards to show what we’re doing through the day and for choice cards. I realise they won’t work straight away, but hopefully they will in time.

What sort of things would you do? Any tips will be gratefully received