It’s a sunny day and you’re taking your baby for a walk in the
park. As you stop to rest, you see a friend with an 18-month-old boy
who's pointing excitedly at a poster on the side of a bus. He clearly
wants to tell you something.
“Ook,” he says. “Wabbit!”
“Yes,” his grandmother says. “Isn’t that a cute white rabbit?”
“Waaaabbit!” he shouts, looking at the picture with a delighted smile on
his face. Suddenly, he begins waving at something in the air. “Bafai!”
“Barfly?” you ask. “Did he just say ‘barfly?’”
“No,” his grandmother tells you as she laughs. “He said butterfly! It seems
like
he’s learning new words every day.”
Talking with an 18-month-old is hard for those who don’t speak toddler
language! Some words toddlers say sound just right. Others don’t seem very
close to real words. Children learn the sounds of their language over
several years, and some sounds are harder to learn than others. Before the
age of about seven years, it’s normal for children not to have all the right
sounds in the right spots when they speak.
What did he say?
The time when young children are able to pronounce all the sounds in
English can vary by months or years. Certain sounds are easier for some
children than for others. As you can see below, English-speaking children
usually start babbling with the sounds “m” (mama), “b” (baba), and “d”
(dada).
But don’t expect to hear perfect “l” and “r” sounds right away. Other sounds
like “j” and “z” may get better and better up to age eight. Combinations of
sounds can also be a challenge, so you might hear “goggie” or “doddie”
instead of “doggie,” or “cacka” instead of “cracker.”
Here’s a general range showing when most children are able to say different
sounds in English:
between one–three years old—p, m, h, n, w, b; two–four years
old—k, g, d, t, ng, ng, f, y:
3–6 years old—r, l; and three–eight years old—s, ch, sh,
z, j, v. (Sander, 1972)
Remember that all children are different, and normal development may not
match this exactly.
Putting sounds and words together.
Adults know that words are like puzzles, made up of many individual
sounds that need to fit together.
But children learning to speak don’t know how some sounds fit together
to make words, and they don’t yet know all the pieces. (Menn & Stoel-Gammon,
1995) For example, some children hear the word “truck” and hear a “ch”
sound at the beginning. If you close your eyes and listen carefully
while you say “truck” and “chuck” to yourself, you’ll hear how much
alike they are.
For
the first few months after they begin talking, young children hear
words as bigger groups of sounds. They might even think of a word or a
phrase as just one big sound. For example, children might try
repeating whole syllables or phrases at once, like “Ahhwa!” for “I
want it!”
Even when children hear all the parts of a word correctly, it can
still be difficult to say them. It can be even more difficult to put
them together in the right order. For example, “daddy” and “egg” may
be easy for a child to say, while “doggie” could be hard. Daddy uses
the “d” sound and “egg” uses the “g” sound, so why would “doggie” be
hard?
For a young child, putting these sounds together is a big challenge.
Learning to put sounds together takes concentration and practice. (Menn
& Stoel-Gammon, 1995) For a young child, learning to put “d” and “g”
in the same word takes the same kind of effort.
Speech in stages.
Sometime around 18 months, a big change occurs. Young children start
to recognize familiar sounds and sound patterns quickly when they hear
them, and they begin to piece these familiar sounds together like
puzzle pieces to form new words. This helps children learn to say new
words after hearing them only once or twice. (Schwartz, 1983)
By the time they are three to four years old, children can say more
and more sounds correctly. Between the ages of four and seven years,
they can make most of the sounds in English as well as ?adults. They
also begin to use longer words with more syllables. They even learn
some rules of grammar and talk about things in the past and the future
correctly. And they begin to appreciate what fun language can be! Most
young children enjoy rhymes, songs and stories. (Schwartz, 1983)
By the time they reach seven years old, most children know thousands
of words and can speak quite clearly. (Schwartz, 1983) But make no
mistake, they’re still learning! Knowing the sounds of language helps
them learn to read, and they continue to improve their grammar. By the
time they’re teenagers, children have a greater command of language.
And you might find that the simple talks you used to have about
“wabbits” have turned into hour-long conversations!
Helpful Parenting Tips
No two children develop on the same schedule. The stages of speech
development and the ages listed in
this Spotlight are guidelines and not rules. Also, the development of
sounds described here are for children
learning English. Children speaking other languages may develop
differently.
No two children develop on the same schedule. The stages of speech development and the ages listed in this Spotlight are guidelines and not rules. Also, the development of sounds described here are for children learning English. Children speaking other languages may develop differently.
Right from birth talk to your child a lot! This helps her to connect with you and get her started on the path to learning language.
Before your baby can talk, play sound games with her. If she babbles, babble some of her own noises right back with a smile. She’ll love it, and it will help her be confident that the noises she makes are a step in the right direction.
Don’t expect perfect speech from your toddler…or even your seven-year-old. Learning how to make sounds correctly takes time.
If you think she might be trying to say a real word, say it for her, and see if she agrees that you’ve got the right one. Younger children may know the word before they can say it.
If he mispronounces a word (like “wabbit”), don’t criticize him. Just repeat the word correctly, “Yes, that’s a rabbit.”
To help build vocabulary, describe the objects you’re talking about with lots of details. But use short sentences! For example, if your child points to a car, and he already knows “car” and “wheel,” you could say “Yes, that’s a car! It’s a blue car! And look, it has black wheels.”
Reading to your child can expose both of you to a wider range of sounds and words. Find books that you both think are fun, and stop before your child gets bored.
If you’re concerned that your child has difficulty with speech, talk to your pediatrician.
Help your child hear and say the sounds of language by reading books
together, singing songs, and learning playful nursery rhymes. After all,
there are few experiences more fun than talking with a child and hearing
them use new words and sentences!
References:
Hoff, E. (2001).
Language development (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson
Learning.
Menn, L., & Stoel-Gammon,
C. (1995). Phonological development. In P. Fletcher & B.
MacWhinney (Eds.), A handbook of child language (pp. 335-359).
Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Sander, E. K.
(1972). When are speech sounds learned? Journal of Speech and
Hearing Disorders, 37, 55-63.
Schwartz, R.
(1983). Diagnosis of speech sound disorders in children. In I. J.
Mertus & B. Weinberg (Eds.), Diagnosis in speech-language
pathology (pp. 113-149). Baltimore, MD: University Park Press..
For
the first few months after they begin talking, young children hear
words as bigger groups of sounds. They might even think of a word or a
phrase as just one big sound. For example, children might try
repeating whole syllables or phrases at once, like “Ahhwa!” for “I
want it!” 
