Children: Speech Development

From the moment of birth a baby is getting prepared both mentally and physically to produce speech. Either they suck, scream, cry, babble, coo or giggle, they are preparing to speak. All sorts of games intended to imitate different sounds or just to make a noise help them to get ready to start speaking some day.

But the preparation of the organs isn`t sufficient. The development of speaking abilities is closely connected with mental development and communication with the environment and people surrounding a baby. From their birth babies need to be immersed into a language. Words fascinate babies. Speaking to the baby from the very birth is the best way to prepare him to speak. Talk to him, sing him songs, read him fairy tales, play with words,  it doesn`t matter if your baby understands you or not!

Being born a baby has got an ability to speak any language with no exception, but as time goes by they "specialise" in speaking one or several languages he hears.

Initially learning to speak comprises immersion and imitation.

Language acquisition can vary in children, the below mentioned stages shouldn`t be considered as indicative points, some babies "burn" the stages while others take their time. Some children can progress quickly but later even regress for a couple of days. There is nothing to worry about if the vocabulary of a two-year-old is limited to just a dozen of words.

Anyway if you find the speech development in your child tough or you have noticed some regress or stagnation which you estimate as too long-lasting, do not hesitate to consult your pediatrician. It is better to visit your doctor because of nothing than to miss some disorder in your kid.

THE STAGES OF SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

The moment of birth

From the moment of their birth babies express themselves by crying. Very quickly every cry (intensity and accent) indicate either some pain or need.

At the age of three months

Being three months old a baby starts to babble, warble, gurgle ... all the sounds of throat and mouth are good.Chain simple vocalisations and you will see that your baby tries to imitate you. Gradually you can have fun babbling and gurgling together.Between 6 and 12 months of age

From the age of 6 months a baby starts to produce simple syllables such as "ma", "pa","da". At first they do not indicate anything special but you may help your child to give sense to his babbling by naming and showing her the objects surrounding her.

Within this age babies are going to move from syllables meaning nothing to the "baby form" of language. The syllables and a chain of syllables will finally get to indicate the relatives taking care of them.

1-year-olds

At the age of 1 a toddler can say a few meaningful words. Generally comprehension precedes formulation. A toddler understands what you tell him or her or what they are asked to do (if the instructions given are simple) before they can express themselves by means of words. You may test your toddler in a very simple way. The test consists of asking him or her to find a certain object in an accessible place (for instance a big red car on a carpet). After that tell him to give you that " big red car" which is on the carpet.

At the age of 18 months

On average a toddler at this age has a vocabulary consisting of some 10-20 words. Starting from this age an infant tries to learn as many new words as possible. They are interested in everything surrounding them and ask you to name all the objects. Answer each question and try to answer it by a phrase. For example if a pear draws your toddler`s attention do not just say "a pear". Make a phrase, in this way your toddler will also understands that the language doesn`t consists just of separate words. Responding to every demand  you`ll prepare you kid to the following important stage. 

Complete the words started by your infant.You will help your toddler to develop his thinking ability, comprehension of the world and the language.

At the age of 2

By the end of the second year of his living a child`s vocabulary comprises 100-200 words. 

Your efforts should be focused on both new words acquisition and on the pronunciation.

Repeat systematically the words you child mispronounces.

Pretend you do not understand the things he says thus making him pronounce the words correctly.

Until you infant has a large vocabulary it is important to prepare him to make phrases. Make it a habit to comment on and explain everything you do.