Reading Programs for English Language Learners (ELL)

Help Your Child Catch Up With English at School

If your non-English-speaking child is taking longer than expected to learn to read English, it’s likely that your child has a language processing delay that makes it difficult to clearly hear the sounds of English. English requires much faster language-processing skills than other languages, which is why it can be challenging to learn, especially reading.

Our at-home English fluency programs can help your child catch up with English at school. They address the language-processing skill gap and teach English sounds, vocabulary, grammar, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Our programs can help your child catch up in English at school.

Is This Your Child?

Do any of these signs of English language learning difficulty apply to your child?

• Child struggling with English sounds at school, particularly phonics
• Child is quiet in the classroom – avoids speaking or does not participate
• Struggles to follow the teacher in class, especially multi-step instruction
• Avoids reading assignments in English at home
• Your child guesses while reading or reads very slowly
• Homework is stressful
• The teacher has reached out with concerns that your child is falling behind
• Your child is getting anxious about going to school

These are all signs of a child who is not getting English. In most cases, they will continue to struggle until the source of difficulty is resolved.

Is Your Child’s Processing or Focus Delayed?

Most non-English-speaking elementary-age children can learn English in 3 to 5 years. If your child doesn’t hear English at home, that period might be longer.

However, many children take longer. Of course, there are multiple possible reasons for this. For starters, English is a challenging language. The tiny differences between sounds like /ma/ and /na/ and syllables that combine sounds like /th/ and /spr/ are difficult to hear clearly if your child’s language processing is even slightly delayed.

Secondly, learning a new language takes focus and working memory. If your child has an attention deficit or poor working memory, learning English will be a struggle.

If your child is having an unexpected difficulty learning to read in English, and you suspect a language processing delay or attention difficulties, Gemm Learning can help. This is our area of specialty.

Check out the signs of auditory processing delays here. 

Fast ForWord for English Language Learners

Our solution is a 6-month course of Fast ForWord software, at home with remote coaching and support.

Fast ForWord software is used worldwide as an at-home English fluency program for kids. In non-English-speaking countries, it helps students of all ages speak and read English.

It is a helpful reading program for kids when parents don’t speak English, and it also helps when your child is having an unusually hard time learning to read in English even with support at home.

If your child is struggling with English and the school teaches in English, falling behind is inevitable. So, consider early intervention to help your child catch up at school.

How Fast ForWord Helps English Fluency

Fast ForWord teaches English in a systematic way:

• It improves your child’s processing so that they can understand phonics as a stepping stone to reading
• It improves processing so that your child will pick up more English vocabulary and grammar from listening to conversations all day – this is how young native English speakers learn English, through listening
• It provides instruction in vocabulary, spelling, grammar and letter sounds
• It helps your child learn to read step by step – from phonics to reading comprehension
• It improves

The program starts with a 100% focus on English sounds for the first 4-6 weeks. There is no text, just exercises that train English phonics, vocabulary, and language syntax. Then it introduces words in text format, sentences, and then paragraphs.

Many of our best student results come from English language learners doing Fast ForWord.

While most of our students have a glitch in their cognitive skill makeup that needs to be resolved, many English language learners have only a minor processing glitch. So the software’s role is to close that small gap in just a few months,

Why Fast ForWord Works for ELLs

Fast ForWord exercises provide hundreds of English sounds in quick succession, replicating the natural way a language is learned.  It is one of the most effective at-home reading programs for English language learners because:

• It is adaptive and intensive, starting slow and building up to natural English language speed
• It includes reading and vocabulary development
• It works on underlying cognitive skill gaps
• It uses visual and auditory cues, which help ELLs understand and remember new language concepts

Fast ForWord an effective tool for accelerating English language learning in ELLs, helping them achieve reading proficiency and confidence in using English in both academic and everyday contexts.

How Fast ForWord Helps

Fast ForWord targets foundational skills to help your child catch up with English at school. Your child can work on our program without outside help, making it an ideal reading program for kids when parents don’t speak English.

• Enhances Phonological Awareness. If your child is struggling with English sounds at school, the difficulty is almost certainly due to delayed processing skills, which makes it hard to hear the tiny differences between sounds, like /ja/ and /sha/. These are the most important skills in the entire learning-to-read journey.
• Improves Listening Skills. Faster processing makes it easier for your child to participate in class, follow conversations with friends at school, and to absorb new vocabulary and grammar more efficiently.
• Strengthens Vocabulary and Grammar. Through interactive games and exercises, Fast ForWord helps learners build their English vocabulary and understand grammatical structures.
• Builds Memory and Attention. Learning a new language is challenging. It requires intense focus. Fast ForWord includes exercises that build focus skills and support stamina, impulsivity, and distractibility.
• Accelerates Reading Fluency and Comprehension. The end goal of our reading program for ELL is reading fluency and comprehension. The software has dozens of age-appropriate exercises to develop reading skills
• Adaptive Experience. Fast ForWord adapts to each learner’s pace and needs. This personalization ensures that learners are neither overwhelmed nor bored.
• Boosts Confidence. As your child learns to read in English, confidence will improve in both academic and everyday settings.

Fast ForWord for English language learners is a 6-month program, depending on the student’s starting familiarity with English. If you or your child is interested in our program, learn more here.