Do literacy skills transfer across languages?

Yes. When there is sufficient exposure to the second language and motivation to learn it, children's skills in one language will transfer to a second language.

How does Tessa International School support early literacy?

At Tessa, instead of mere repetition, we create rich, meaningful experiences with language—stories, songs, conversations, and dramatic play—where letters and sounds come alive and lay a solid foundation for students’ early literacy. These organic, immersive experiences are present across all three language tracks: Spanish, French, and Mandarin. Once children have developed strong oral language skills and sound awareness, they are much more successful when they begin more complex reading and writing in later stages.

“When Will My Child Learn to Read?” Early Literacy Starts With Sound in Every Language

At Tessa, one of the most common questions we as educators hear is
“When will my child learn to read?”

But here’s an even more important question:
How are we preparing your child to become a lifelong reader and writer—in more than one language?

The answer begins with early literacy—and it starts long before decoding or writing words.

Teacher of a nursery class at Tessa International class

At Tessa, we begin nurturing children’s early literacy skills as early as 20 months of age through our Nursery program.

What is Early Literacy?

Early literacy refers to the foundational skills children build from birth through age six that prepare them to read and write. These include:

Phonological awareness (hearing and playing with sounds)
Vocabulary development
Symbolic representation (understanding that marks or symbols carry meaning)
Emergent writing (scribbling, drawing, or writing to tell a story)

These skills don’t emerge from memorization or drills. They grow through rich, meaningful experiences with language—stories, songs, conversations, dramatic play—and they develop across all languages a child uses.

Why Early Literacy Matters

When children have a solid command of spoken language, they are better prepared for the demands of reading and writing later on. They can express themselves, understand story structures, and play with language, all of which are essential for literacy success.

Phonological awareness is a key piece of this. For example:

If a child can rhyme, they are also beginning to notice word patterns and families (cat, hat, mat).
If they can identify the first or last sound in a word, they’re preparing to blend and segment sounds when they start reading.
But, and this is important, they need a strong vocabulary to do any of that. You can’t rhyme with words you don’t know.

That’s why early literacy is not about teaching skills in isolation. It’s about connecting vocabulary, sounds, and ideas in context—through stories, songs, conversations, and inquiry.

But What About Letters and Sounds?

We often get asked: “When will my child learn letters and sounds?”

The short answer is: when they’re ready—and in a way that makes sense.

At Tessa, we don’t rush into memorizing letters in isolation. Instead, we create experiences where letters and sounds come alive through songs, stories, names, and meaningful words.

For example, children may:

Recognize the first letter of their name on their cubby.
Hear the /b/ sound in butterfly while reading about insects.
Write the first sound they hear in a word while drawing or labeling their work.

These organic experiences stick because they’re tied to real ideas, interests, and vocabulary. Once children have a strong foundation in oral language and sound awareness, they’re much more successful when they begin formal phonics and decoding—typically in Kindergarten or Grade 1.

What This Looks Like in a Multilingual Setting

In our immersion classrooms:

In Spanish, children clap the syllables in mariposa or sing rhyming songs like Estrellita, ¿dónde estás?
In French, they act out stories and notice sound patterns in poems and songs.
In Mandarin, they explore tones, characters, and the meaning behind symbols.

These experiences don’t stay in one language, rather, the skills transfer. For example, when children are familiar with listening for patterns in Spanish or Mandarin, they apply that same awareness when they begin reading in English. It’s all connected.

Home Language Is the Starting Point

Whatever language your family speaks at home, keep speaking it. Read stories, play with words, sing songs. Your home language is your child’s starting point for literacy in any other language. A strong foundation in one language supports learning in every language that follows.

You can find more about how to support language learning at home here.

In our next post of the Literacy Progression Series, we’ll explore how early literacy is nurtured through play, exploration, and inquiry in our immersion classrooms, and why this approach works.

Sources & Further Reading

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. [National Institute for Literacy]
Neuman, S. B., & Roskos, K. (2007). Literacy Knowledge in Practice: Contexts of Participation for Young Writers and Readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), 304–310.
Castro, D. C., Páez, M., Dickinson, D. K., & Frede, E. (2011). Promoting Language and Literacy in Young Dual Language Learners: Research, Practice, and Policy. Child Development Perspectives.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2015). A Guide to Early Literacy Development.
Bialystok, E., Luk, G., & Kwan, E. (2005). Bilingualism, Biliteracy, and Learning to Read: Interactions Among Languages and Writing Systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(1), 43–61.