Talking

Learning to talk is exciting and fun for your child and your family. The process of talking involves listening, understanding, thinking, wanting and needing to speak, and being able to co-ordinate all the right muscles. Talking to your baby when you are playing together also aids her language development and makes the interaction much more enjoyable. 

At about six months of age most babies begins to saysingle syllable sounds such as maa, baa, da etc. This is the time he becomes interested in how people talk or make sounds. By the end of the eighth month, he may begin to use different syllables all in the same breath. Now he will be able to repeat her own sounds after you. He also will start using his voice to get what he wants. With his tone and expressions, he will let us know what he wants and whether he is angry or having fun. At about 9 months, many babies will start making more difficult sounds like 'f' or 's' other than ma or ba.

Although your baby is still developing language skills, she’ll be able to understand you well before she can say the words. Encourage her to talk by asking questions and conversing as though you expect a reply. Very often your baby's responses may be just a smile, changing of facial expression, or waving of her arms. Even if she doesn't make a sound, this type of conversation helps her begin to learn to talk. 

Now your baby looks at things as well as people and babbles, she will stop in between and look at you as if expecting a reply, thus imitating conversation between people. She'll love it if you answer her back and it will encourage her to continue her 'conversation' with you. Between 9 and 12 months of age, your baby will begin to imitate new sounds and words which we say other than the sounds he has made first. She'll pick up words like 'oh', 'bye' and so on, by listening to us and try to imitate them. She'll talk most when she has people or children around her, playing with her. 

After her first birthday, she slowly begins to say more words maybe about one a month. By the age of two she may be able to say two words together and will know about 200 words in all. When babies grow up in a language- rich environment, they naturally learn to speak.  

There are a few tips you can do right now to help baby develop language skills-as well as social skills. They are;

• Have fun with your baby, make funny faces, blabber like him, clown around. Babies like it. 

• Have fun with nursery rhymes and songs. Sing each rhyme, preferably with action a few times while he watches and listens. Then repeat a line and pause, so he can try to imitate your sound. 

• Introduce you baby to books with large, colourful pictures. Talk about the pictures. Photograph albums, art books, etc are also good sources for pictures. 

• Encourage your child to listen to different sounds, such as cars, birds and animals in the garden, the telephone.  

• Increase vocabulary by giving choices, by asking him whether he wants this or that. 

• Listen carefully and give your child time to finish talking. Take turns to speak.

• Always respond in some way when your child says something. 

• If your child says something incorrectly, say it back the right way.

• Talk to him slowly and clearly and give him lots of time to take in what you say.

• Help him to wave 'bye bye' as people leave.