Talking about Parenting in English

Talking about Parenting in English

Hello English learners. Welcome to a new vocabulary lesson. We are going to look at some useful vocabulary you need for talking about parenting in English.

Bring up/ raise a child

Meaning: to look after and care for a child until they are an adult.

• My grandma brought up five children.
• We were raised in a small town in northern England.

Upbringing

Meaning: the way a child is raised and taught.

• Michael’s upbringing was good; his parents taught him to be independent and honest.

Look after a child/baby

Meaning: to care for a child/baby.

• Martha will look after our children while we are away.
• We took a babysitter to look after our baby while we were at the party.

Talking about parenting in English

 

Feed/​breastfeed a baby

Meaning: to give food to a baby or when a mother feeds her baby with the milk from her breasts.

• When our baby was six months old, we started feeding it with blended fruit and vegetables.
• My wife sometimes wakes up at night to breastfeed our baby.

Go on maternity/​paternity leave

Meaning: to take time off work to be with your baby.

• Sara is going on maternity leave next week.
• When his wife gets back to work, Peter will take paternity leave to be with their three-month-old baby.    

Parenthood

Meaning: the state of being a parent.

• Mary and her husband felt ready for parenthood.

Stay-at-home parent

Meaning: a parent who stays at home with children while the other parent goes to work.

• My mum was a stay-at-home parent while my dad worked as an engineer.

Talking about parenting in English

Single/lone parent/mother/father

Meaning: a parent who raises a child by himself/herself.

• Did you know that more than 80 per cent of single/lone-parent families are headed by mothers?

Adopt a ​child

Meaning: to take someone else’s child into your family and become their parent.

• A football star adopted three children whose parents died in the war.

Adoptive parent

Meaning: a legal parent who adopted a child.

• Simon’s adoptive parents raised him.

Foster a child

Meaning: to take care of a child for a limited time.

• Our neighbours fostered a boy from the orphanage. 

Foster parent

Meaning: a person who fosters a child.

• After WW2, many orphan children were placed with foster parents.

Biological / birth parent

Meaning: natural parent of a child.

• After her father died, Tom found out that he wasn’t his biological parent.
• After he was told that he’d been adopted, Mark tried to find his birth parents.

Co-parent

Meaning: usually refers to divorced parents who share the duty of raising a child.

• The movie star and her ex-husband were co-parenting a six-year-old boy.

Talking about parenting in English

Now try to use the new vocabulary. Ask and answer the following questions:

1) Were you brought up in the city or the country? 

2) Did your grandparents take part in your upbringing?

3) Do you think it’s all right to breastfeed a baby in public?

4) Are you a parent? How many children do you have?

5) Do you know anyone who is a lone/single parent?

6) Do you think people should give up their jobs and become stay-at-home parents?

7) Do you know anyone who’s adopted a child?

8) Do you know anyone who is a foster parent?

9) Do you think there should be a minimum age for people to become parents?

10) Do you think people spend enough time with their children nowadays?

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