Last week, when I told my four year old daughter to “Come Here”, she said to me, “Mama, hold on, I’m saying a competation”. What she meant was, she was having a “conversation” with her Nana. I sometimes wonder where she gets this stuff from, but I know that it comes from me.  Parents are the most influential people in the development of their child’s language.  This begins even before they are born.

Even when a child is in the womb, they are beginning to learn about language.  An obstetrician would tell an expecting mother to, “talk to your baby, read to them”.  The baby is beginning to recognize their mother’s voice even before they are born, thus beginning the process of language acquisition.  By the time a baby is one day old, they are able to distinguish between various voices.  At one month, babies have learned the difference between vowels and consonants when listening.  And at age three months, babies begin to comprehend language and are able to respond to different tones such as angry or soothing.  Language Comprehension games, such as “This little Piggy went to Market” are also very helpful and appreciated by age 6 months.  Verbal learning takes place at around age 1, when children start to repeat what they hear.  Parents can benefit their children by choosing a parental speech style that is clear and simple.  Many use short repeated sentences while communicating with their children.

As the child gets older their language will quickly develop. Children use one word phrases at age one like “Mama”, and “Baby”. At age two, children begin the stage “real grammar”, where they begin putting short phrases together, “mommy juice”.  Next they begin to “fill out” their sentence patterns by using words like “and”.  And then they begin to “sort out” their grammar, paying closer attention to irregular verbs and nouns.  This carries on into the pre-teen age when the child eventually develops her own adult language.