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LEARNING TO TALK
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Learning to talk is one of the key developments of a child's first three years
and is vital to normal social, emotional and intellectual development.
The rate at
which individual children learn to talk varies widely, as does
that of other aspects of development. It depends on temperament
and the physical development of the parts of the body used for
speech as well as on intellectual ability and stimulation from
the environment.
It is worth
remembering that early progress has no particular bearing on later
ability.
Babies start
learning language long before they can say words. Newborn babies
prefer the sound of the human voice to any other and talking to
them right from birth can play a valuable part in their language
development. It not only helps them to learn the rhythms, patterns
and intonations of speech but also conveys the idea that talking
is a pleasant social activity, which makes them want to participate.
To reinforce
this idea, it is important to spend some time talking directly
to the baby and looking at him while you talk to him so he feels
he has your individual attention. This will also help him learn
the facial expressions that accompany speech.
Don't force
yourself to oversimplify what you are saying. Don't worry either
about constantly repeating yourself. Repetition plays an important
part in language learning and babies seem to enjoy it.
Certain toys
are especially useful for encouraging talking. From about six
months, most babies enjoy looking in mirrors. These encourage
them to be aware of their mouths and making sounds. From about
12 months, toy telephones are helpful and making hand or finger
puppets speak can also encourage conversation.
It is worth
looking at books or flash cards even with a very young baby. Talk
about the pictures just as you would with an older child. A simple
picture always accompanied by the same word or words is a great
aid to realising that words have meaning. Later, books provide
opportunities to learn new words. Read simple stories too. Eventually
the child will start joining in by wanting to move the pages or
pointing at something or making noises.
Some babies
learn lots of words as soon as they begin to speak but it is more
usual to learn between one and three a month for the first few
months. Some may only be used for a few days or weeks then disappear
from their vocabulary for quite a time.
If a baby is
concentrating hard on learning to walk, progress with talking
may slow down temporarily. At around 18 months, toddlers often
start to learn new words much more rapidly and by the time they
are two may know as many as two hundred words.
Shortly after
their second birthday, children often start putting two words
together to make their meaning clearer; soon after, they may begin
to form simple sentences. From now on their range of vocabulary
and ability to combine words, use grammar and take part in dialogue
steadily improve, provided they get enough encouragement and stimulation.
Gradually they
realise that words can be used to describe actions, where things
are, who owns what and what things are like. You may notice a
child introducing a different part of speech or aspect of grammar
(such as past tense or plurals) and practising it intensively
before moving on to something else.
 Make language as interesting as possible by
making time to have conversations and taking questions seriously
and trying to answer them.
Don't restrict your own vocabulary too much.
Toddlers understand much more than they can express and learn
words by hearing them in context.
Don't make a child correct mistakes of grammar.
He will only be put off talking. He will learn good grammar by
hearing it spoken around him.
Don't interrupt or finish the sentence if a
child is struggling for words. The process of talking actually
helps children to form new concepts.
There is a broad age range when children learn
these various developments in language. Don't worry if your child
appears to be slow to speak, and don't necessarily think that
your child will be a rocket scientist if they pick up language
early.
Learning to
speak, read and spell are three quite different developments.
Although your child can speak he will still need to learn to read,
although he can read he will still need to learn how to spell.
If he learns to read correctly, he should automatically be able
to spell.
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