At an international school in Malaysia,
to improve your English skills,
here are 5 things you can do at home
In Part 1, we looked at common reasons why English proficiency can stagnate during an educational move to Malaysia โ including the Japanese community environment, the ratio of Japanese spoken at home, 'vague comprehension,' and the Manglish environment. So what are families whose children are actually improving their English doing differently? In this article, we introduce concrete steps you can start taking today.
- โA home environment that supports English growth
- โWays to increase English input at home
- โMethods for increasing English output
- โKey points to check at international school meetings
- โHow to leverage the Malaysian environment for English acquisition
Whythe 'home environment'makes a difference in English proficiency
At international schools in Malaysia, a certain level of English exposure is guaranteed through school lessons alone. However, in practice, there can be a significant difference in the amount of English contact depending on what language is spoken at home, who the child spends time with after school, what videos and books the child is exposed to, and whether English is used outside of school.
Especially in the case of an educational relocation, how 'time outside of school' is used is extremely important.
To improve English skills,5 things you can do at home
One area where a big difference tends to emerge in English acquisition is the 'amount of input at home.' In particular, Japanese content such as Japanese YouTube, Netflix, gaming commentary, and Japanese social media is now easily accessible. Of course, maintaining Japanese is important too, but many families who want to improve their children's English make a conscious effort to increase the amount of English contact at home.
- English audio + English subtitles
- Reading aloud from English books
- English podcasts
- English-language animation
By incorporating these into daily life, it becomes easier to naturally increase the amount of English input. Additionally, when parents show that they themselves are learning English, it can have an impact on their child's motivation.
It is also important to increase the time spent using English outside of school. Malaysia in particular offers a relatively wide range of extracurricular activities and clubs in a multinational environment.
- Local sports
- Multicultural art classes
- Programming classes
- Tennis / Soccer
- Dance / Music lessons
By participating in extracurricular activities where English is used, it becomes easier to create opportunities for English output outside of school. In particular, environments where 'you have to speak up to be understood' tend to increase real-world English practice.
Building a 'reading habit' is key to progressing from everyday conversational English to academic English. International schools in particular place great emphasis on reading comprehension, essay writing, critical thinking, and presentations.
A great approach is to get into the habit of reading English-language books suited to your child's level and then having a conversation about them. For example:
"What would you have done in that situation?"
"What do you think the theme of this story is?"
Having conversations like these that encourage reflection on the content makes it easier to develop thinking skills and the ability to express ideas in words.
At Parent-Teacher Meetings, simply asking "Is my child doing okay with English?" can make it hard to identify specific challenges. It is important to ask specifically about where the difficulties lie โ whether in vocabulary, writing, reading comprehension, or participation in discussions.
"What type of reading would you recommend?"
"Is my child participating actively in discussions?"
Asking specific questions like these makes it easier to see which areas need to be reinforced at home. Particularly at schools that offer EAL/ESL support, how much progress a child makes can change significantly depending on how well the school and family work together.
One of Malaysia's great features is that it is an environment where you can communicate without needing perfect English. Compared to Western countries, people often feel less psychological pressure when it comes to speaking English.
- Chatting with Grab drivers
- Asking shop staff questions at the mall
- Ordering at restaurants
- Greeting condominium staff
There are many opportunities to use English in everyday life like these. Accumulating small output experiences in such moments โ placing an order, asking a question, saying hello โ can also help reduce any resistance children feel toward using English.
Especially when relocating to Malaysia for education, the English-language environment your child is in can change dramatically depending on who they spend time with after school, how much they use English for output, and whether they are exposed to communities outside of Japanese. On 'Compare Malaysia,' we also compare and introduce extracurricular activities and after-school environments in Malaysia.
โ Compare Malaysia โ List of Extracurricular Activities
School is the 'stage.' Butthe results depend on how you use that stage.
Malaysia is a highly appealing destination for education relocation, offering a multinational environment, an everyday life where English is used, and a relatively accessible educational setting. At the same time, it is not as simple as 'enrol in an international school and your child's English will naturally improve.' The language environment at home, how after-school time is spent, the amount of English input, and collaboration with the school can all lead to significant differences in a child's English proficiency a few years down the line.
That is precisely why it is so important not to stop at choosing a school, but to keep thinking about 'what kind of English environment can we create as a family.' Children's potential is truly enormous, and with the right environment they can change in remarkable ways. And the person best placed to create that environment โ right there beside them every day โ is the parent or guardian who lives with them.
Key takeaways from this article
โBe mindful of the amount of English input at home (subtitles, audio, English-language books)
โIncrease English output opportunities through local extracurricular activities where fewer Japanese students are enrolled
โBuild the habit of having 'thinking conversations' after reading English-language books
โAt parent-teacher meetings, specifically check 'where are the weak points'
โUse everyday conversations in Malaysia as a testing ground for English output
