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Learning To Talk
Learning to talk is one of the most difficult and important steps that young children take. It helps them to make sense of the world, to ask for what they need and to be able to get on with other people. If you think about how difficult it is for adults to learn a different language you can get some idea of what it is like for an infant to learn to speak from having no language at all.
Language and speech, like other development, take place at different rates for different children.
Steps in learning to talk
The early months
Long before they can speak, babies are listening to their parents and carers. They begin to make little noises and sounds which come before speech. If parents and carers imitate these, it is as if they are talking to the baby. This is the beginning of your baby learning to talk.
By responding to your baby’s needs when she cries, you show that you have heard her and that she matters. This is the beginning of communication.
8 to 12 months
The early little noises turn into babbling for example, ‘Da-da-dada’ and ‘Ma-ma-ma-ma’.
Babies are beginning to learn what some simple words mean even though they cannot say them, for example, ‘Mummy, Bottle, No’.
There may be one or two single words.
Babies wave ‘Bye-bye’ when asked.
They obey simple requests such as ‘Give me the ball’.
12–18 months
There is much babbling in the children’s own jargon.
The first single words appear for example, ‘No, Dad, Dog’.
Children can point to things that they know when they are asked to.
Children know their own names and respond to them.
18 months to two years
18-month-olds can know and use six or more words. Two-year-olds may have 100 or more words. Many of the words may be unclear but the parent or carer can tell what is meant.
Two-year-olds can say their name.
They can ask for simple things that they need, for example, ‘Drink’.
Children start to join words together, for example, ‘Daddy home’, ‘All gone’.
They copy the last part of sentences.
They try out different speech sounds and make mistakes.
Three to four years
Children begin to ask ‘What?’ and ‘Why?’ questions.
Use sentences with three or four words.
They begin to separate the truth from make-believe.
They can talk about ‘Yesterday, now and tomorrow’ and know what they mean.
Their speech should be understandable most of the time.
They are likely to talk to themselves as they do things.
They can learn and join in simple rhymes and songs.
Four to five years
Children learn to adjust their language to the situation they are in. For example, they talk differently to their parents than they do to their friends.
They ask ‘When?’ questions.
They can talk about imaginary situations, for example, ‘I hope … ’
They still mix truth and make-believe.
They like to tell stories.
They can hold conversations with their friends and parents.
They will be able to say their name, age and address if they have been taught this.
Four-year-olds enjoy making up words for fun and using toilet words, for example, ‘Poo’, ‘Bum’.
Their speech is clearer but they still may not be using ‘th’, ‘r’, ‘z’, ‘s’, and ‘v’.
What parents can do
Talk to your baby right from birth and imitate her sounds.
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