Why Is My Child Struggling with English?
Author: Neil Pick, School Principal
Date: 11/03/2026
A Guide for Parents Across Europe, the Middle East and Asia
If you’ve ever watched your child freeze up during an English lesson, avoid speaking even when they know the answer, or come home from class deflated — you’re not alone.
Learning English as a foreign language is one of the most valuable things a child can do. But it isn’t easy, and the challenges your child faces depend heavily on where they’re from, what language they speak at home, and how they’ve been taught so far.
This guide breaks down the specific English learning struggles children face across ten countries — and what you, as a parent, can do to help. Whether your child is 5 or 12, frustrated or just getting started, there’s something here for you.
First: Why Does Background Matter So Much?
English is not equally “far away” for every child. A German child learning English is working with a language in the same family as their own. An Arabic-speaking child is navigating an entirely different alphabet, sound system, and sentence structure.
Understanding your child’s specific challenges — rather than following generic advice — is the difference between slow progress and real, lasting confidence.
Table of contents
Suggestions for:
China 🇨🇳
What’s happening in the classroom
English education in China is strong on paper: children study vocabulary, grammar rules, and reading comprehension from an early age. But the focus is heavily exam-driven, and speaking is rarely practised in any meaningful way. Large class sizes mean most children spend their English lessons listening — not producing.
The specific challenges your child faces
- Pronouncing /r/ and /l/ sounds (these don't exist separately in Mandarin)
- Consonant clusters like "str-" or "spr-" (Mandarin is syllable-based, so these feel unnatural)
- Speaking in natural, connected English — rather than word by word
- Fear of making mistakes publicly, which grows stronger with age
What you can do at home
The single most powerful thing you can do for a Chinese-speaking child learning English is create low-stakes speaking opportunities. Five to ten minutes of daily conversation practice — even imperfect, even with you — builds more fluency than a weekly exam ever will. Audiobooks and English stories build the listening foundation that makes speaking feel less frightening. Most importantly: celebrate communication, not correctness.
What to look for in an English teacher
Your child needs a teacher who makes speaking feel safe. Structured phonics work (targeting the specific sounds that trip up Mandarin speakers), warm and clear corrective feedback, and small group or one-to-one lessons are the gold standard. If your child’s class has more than eight or ten children, they’re not getting enough speaking time.
Spain 🇪🇸
What’s happening in the classroom
Spanish children often have solid grammar knowledge and can read English reasonably well. The gap is almost always in speaking. Fear of imperfection runs deep — many children would rather say nothing than risk saying something wrong.
The specific challenges your child faces
- English vowel sounds (Spanish has only five; English has around twenty)
- Pronunciation shaped by Spanish phonetic rules (reading English as if it were Spanish)
- Hesitation and silence when asked to speak spontaneously
- Difficulty with stress patterns in English words
What you can do at home
Watch English cartoons together — with English subtitles, not Spanish. Don’t jump in to correct every mistake your child makes while speaking; it teaches them to stop and think rather than flow. Short, regular conversations at home are far more valuable than cramming before a test.
What to look for in an English teacher
Conversation-first lessons that build confidence before accuracy. A good teacher for Spanish children creates structured speaking tasks where there’s no single “right” answer — so participation feels less risky. Natural pronunciation modelling matters enormously here.
Italy 🇮🇹
What’s happening in the classroom
Italian English education is predominantly grammar-focused and written. Children produce tidy exercises and score well on tests — but struggle to string sentences together in real time.
The specific challenges your child faces
- English stress and rhythm (Italian is more evenly stressed; English is not)
- Silent letters and spelling irregularities
- The leap from written accuracy to spontaneous speech
- Anxiety about public performance
What you can do at home
Stories and songs are your best tools. They build rhythm, vocabulary and confidence all at once. English audiobooks — even simple ones — help children internalise the sound of the language rather than just the rules. Encourage your child to speak without worrying about grammar.
What to look for in an English teacher
An encouraging environment where mistakes are treated as part of learning, not failures to be highlighted. Speaking should make up the majority of lesson time. Listening activities should be regular and varied.
France 🇫🇷
What’s happening in the classroom
France has a long history of grammar-led language teaching, and English is no exception. Children learn tenses and rules but often struggle to use them under pressure. There’s also a cultural reluctance — deeply embedded — to speak imperfectly.
The specific challenges your child faces
- The "th" sound (absent in French and genuinely difficult to produce)
- Silent letters and spelling irregularities
- Word stress (French is relatively flat; English is dynamic and unpredictable)
- Strong cultural resistance to making errors
What you can do at home
Patience matters more than pressure here. Create a home environment where English is playful and low-stakes. French children often respond well to structured repetition — songs, rhymes, and short dialogue practice. Reassure your child that every English speaker was once where they are now.
What to look for in an English teacher
Someone who models pronunciation clearly and patiently, corrects gently rather than immediately, and understands that the biggest barrier for French children isn’t knowledge — it’s confidence.
Germany 🇩🇪
What’s happening in the classroom
German children typically begin English early and build strong academic foundations. The challenge is that German grammar is complex and rule-governed — and children often carry this analytical approach into English, over-thinking before they speak.
The specific challenges your child faces
- Direct translation from German produces odd word order
- Tendency to analyse rather than produce
- Pronunciation of English vowel sounds unfamiliar in German
- Prioritising accuracy over fluency, which slows communication
What you can do at home
Encourage storytelling and imaginative play in English — situations where there’s no “right” answer force children to communicate rather than translate. Podcasts and audiobooks are excellent. If your child hesitates a lot before speaking, that’s a signal they need more listening input before the pressure to produce.
What to look for in an English teacher
Communicative lessons over grammar drills. A strong teacher for German children gently encourages them to “think in English” rather than construct sentences in German first. Natural word order and real conversation practice should be central to every lesson.
Poland 🇵🇱
What’s happening in the classroom
Polish children tend to be academically strong and motivated. Literacy skills are solid, and many children arrive at English lessons with good vocabulary and grammar knowledge. The gap, almost universally, is natural spoken fluency.
The specific challenges your child faces
- English word order differs from Polish in ways that feel counter-intuitive
- Spontaneous speaking is rarely practised in school
- Pronunciation, particularly of English sounds absent in Polish
- Translating internally before speaking, which creates hesitation
What you can do at home
Regular listening is the key investment. The more English your child hears in natural, connected speech, the more automatic their own production becomes. Even background exposure — English TV shows, songs, YouTube — adds up. Small-group or one-to-one online classes are particularly valuable for Polish children who need more speaking time than school provides.
What to look for in an English teacher
Conversation-led lessons with a high speaking ratio. Your child needs to be talking for a significant portion of every class — not listening to a teacher explain rules. Personalised feedback on pronunciation and natural phrasing makes a real difference over time.
Czechia 🇨🇿
What’s happening in the classroom
Similar to Poland, Czech children are often academically well-prepared but lack real speaking practice. Teaching methods in many schools remain traditional, with an emphasis on written work and grammar exercises.
The specific challenges your child faces
- Spontaneous spoken English without time to prepare
- Pronunciation of English sounds with no Czech equivalent
- Moving from receptive knowledge (understanding) to productive fluency (speaking)
- Limited exposure to native-speaker English outside of classes
What you can do at home
Reading aloud is an underused tool. Encourage your child to read English books out loud — even picture books — to build confidence in producing sound. Interactive games in English, even simple ones, create meaningful practice that drills don’t.
What to look for in an English teacher
Interactive tasks that require real communication. A teacher who creates pair work, discussions, and open-ended questions — rather than fill-in-the-blank exercises — will transform your child’s spoken fluency far faster.
Latvia 🇱🇻
What’s happening in the classroom
Latvia has a strong academic culture, and children are often high performers. English instruction is generally solid, but the smaller population means fewer organic opportunities to use English outside the classroom — particularly outside Riga.
The specific challenges your child faces
- The "th" sound (absent in French and genuinely difficult to produce)
- Silent letters and spelling irregularities
- Word stress (French is relatively flat; English is dynamic and unpredictable)
- Strong cultural resistance to making errors
What you can do at home
Patience matters more than pressure here. Create a home environment where English is playful and low-stakes. French children often respond well to structured repetition — songs, rhymes, and short dialogue practice. Reassure your child that every English speaker was once where they are now.
What to look for in an English teacher
Someone who models pronunciation clearly and patiently, corrects gently rather than immediately, and understands that the biggest barrier for French children isn’t knowledge — it’s confidence.
Türkiye 🇹🇷
What’s happening in the classroom
English is widely taught across Turkey, but large class sizes and grammar-heavy instruction mean most children leave school able to write a sentence — but not hold a conversation. Communicative practice is limited, and many children develop a passive relationship with English.
The specific challenges your child faces
- English stress patterns differ significantly from Turkish (Turkish has more even stress)
- English vowel sounds not present in Turkish phonology
- Limited genuine speaking practice in school
- Translating from Turkish rather than thinking in English
What you can do at home
Songs and story repetition are highly effective for Turkish children — they build stress and rhythm in a way that feels natural and memorable. Avoid translating every word your child doesn’t know; encourage guessing from context. Small-group classes outside of school make an enormous difference when school classes are large.
What to look for in an English teacher
Phonics-based pronunciation teaching, small group interaction, and a structured lesson format. The contrast between a 30-child school class and a 4-child online lesson is significant — your child will speak more in one 45-minute small group session than in a week of school English.
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
What’s happening in the classroom
English is a growing priority in Saudi education, and investment in teaching quality has increased significantly. However, the challenge for children — particularly younger ones — is significant: Arabic and English are about as different as two languages can be.
The specific challenges your child faces
- Learning a new alphabet (Latin script) alongside a new language
- English sounds that simply don't exist in Arabic
- Sentence structure that works in an almost opposite direction
- Variable quality of English teaching, depending on school and region
What you can do at home
Invest early in structured phonics — for Saudi children, learning to decode the Latin alphabet and English sounds is foundational, and it’s worth doing properly. Choosing a teacher with experience teaching Arabic-speaking children is not a nice-to-have; it’s essential. They will understand the specific sounds your child struggles with and correct them accurately.
What to look for in an English teacher
Clear sound modelling, cultural sensitivity, and gentle correction. A teacher who understands Arabic phonology will anticipate your child’s challenges before they become entrenched habits. Patience and warmth are non-negotiable at this stage.
What Every Child Has in Common (Regardless of Country)
Across all ten countries, primary-age English learners share the same core needs:
- Short attention spans that require varied, engaging lessons
- A need for movement and interaction — sitting and listening is not learning
- Fear of mistakes that grows stronger the older they get
- Deep sensitivity to teacher energy — a disengaged or impatient teacher is damaging at this age
Children aged 5–7 learn best through play-based activities: games, songs, stories and movement. Children aged 8–12 benefit from more structured progression — they want to see their own improvement and understand why they’re learning what they’re learning.
Five Things Every Parent Can Do — Starting This Week
- Prioritise listening before speaking. Comprehension builds confidence. The more English your child hears, the less frightening it becomes to produce.
- Create daily speaking habits. Five minutes every day beats an hour once a week. It doesn’t need to be perfect — it needs to be consistent.
- Choose small-group or one-to-one classes. In a class of twenty, your child might speak for three minutes. In a group of four, they speak for fifteen. The maths matters.
- Focus on teacher quality above all else. The teacher is the single most important variable. Qualifications, experience with your child’s language background, and warmth all matter more than the platform or the price.
- Celebrate effort, not perfection. Children who are afraid of mistakes stop trying. Children who feel safe making mistakes keep going.
What Makes a High-Quality EFL Teacher for Children?
At Meridian English, we believe that great teaching for children aged 5–12 combines structure with warmth — and that language learning is as much emotional as it is academic.
A strong children’s English teacher provides:
- A structured curriculum aligned to CEFR levels (A1 through B1), so progress is clear and measurable
- Phonics-based pronunciation teaching tailored to your child's first language
- A high speaking ratio — your child should be talking, not just listening
- Personalised corrective feedback that builds accuracy without destroying confidence
- Genuine understanding of the cultural and linguistic background your child brings to class
English is not learned through apps alone. It is learned through conversation, correction, encouragement, and practice — ideally with a teacher who knows exactly where your child is starting from.
Choosing the Right Class: Questions Worth Asking
Before enrolling your child anywhere, ask:
- How much time will my child actually spend speaking in each lesson?
- How are pronunciation errors identified and corrected?
- Is there a structured curriculum with measurable progression?
- What experience does the teacher have with children from my country?
- What qualifications does the teacher hold?
If you’re not getting clear answers, keep looking.
Final Thought
Whether your child is learning English in Beijing, Warsaw, Riyadh or Istanbul — their challenges are real, predictable, and solvable. The children who make the most progress aren’t necessarily the most talented. They’re the ones with consistent support at home, a high-quality teacher who understands their background, and enough positive experience to keep going when it gets hard.
That’s what we work towards at Meridian English — every lesson, every week.
Interested in finding the right class for your child?
Get in touch with the Meridian English team.
Quick Reference: English Learning Challenges by Country
| Country | Core Challenge | What Helps Most |
|---|---|---|
| China | Speaking confidence; pronunciation of /r/ and /l/ | Daily speaking practice; phonics; small groups |
| Spain | Reluctance to speak; vowel sounds | Confidence-building conversation lessons |
| Italy | Gap between written and spoken English | Stories, songs, encouraging speaking environment |
| France | Cultural hesitation; pronunciation of “th” | Patient correction; low-stakes speaking practice |
| Germany | Over-analysis; translation habits | Communicative tasks; storytelling |
| Poland | Natural fluency; word order | Conversation-led lessons; listening exposure |
| Czechia | Spontaneous speaking; pronunciation | Interactive tasks; real conversation practice |
| Latvia | Limited immersive exposure | Native-speaker access; reading aloud |
| Türkiye | Stress patterns; vowel sounds | Small-group lessons; pronunciation teaching |
| Saudi Arabia | Latin alphabet; sound system | Structured phonics; experienced teachers |
