Babies learn to speak by imitating the sounds they hear around them. So the more you talk to your baby, the faster they will acquire speech and language skills. Many adults use a special tone of voice when talking the baby talk; a high-pitched voice with an exaggerated expression. A new study suggests that when parent baby talks to their infants, they might be helping them learn to produce speech. The way we instinctively speak to babies — higher pitch, slower speed, exaggerated pronunciation — not only appeals to them but likely helps them learn to understand what we're saying.
It's great to start talking with your baby as early as you can. In fact, from birth, your baby absorbs a huge amount of information about words and talking just from listening and watching you talk. Conversations with your baby might feel one-sided, to begin with. It is generally recommended that you speak your first language with your child. Your first language is not necessarily the first language you ever learned to speak. For instance, you might not have spoken the language since childhood and have, therefore, forgotten some or most of it.
Talking to your baby is an important way to help him/her grow. It promotes communication and language development. It also supports social and emotional development. Even before your baby starts to talk, he/she communicates with you through facial expressions, body language and crying. Around 12 months, according to experts, common first words may be greetings ("hi" or "bye-bye") or they might be people ("mama" or "dada"), pets ("doggy" or "kitty"), or food ("cookie," "juice," or "milk"). Some infants heard fewer than 2000 words in a day, while some heard over 15,000. In addition, there were big differences in child-directed speech. Some families spoke fewer than 1000 words to their children in a day, while others spoke over 10,000 words to their children.
Listen and respond to your child's sounds and words, including cooing and babbling. Imitate her sounds or words and add to them. Introduce vocabulary words during new routines and outings. You're teaching back-and-forth conversation skills. You can also help babies out by gently waving their hands for them when greeting or saying goodbye to someone. Make sure you pair the motion with a verbal cue, so your baby learns that the words “hi” or “hello” and “bye-bye” or “goodbye” mean it's time to start waving.
A new study suggests talking to babies as young as 3 months old influences their cognitive development and helps the brain learn to form categories. Researchers found infants who learned to associate words rather than sounds with pictures of objects were better able to perform a simple categorization task. Babies communicate using sounds and gestures. In the first year of life, babies go from babbling to playing with sounds, copying sounds and putting sounds together. The first words might start at around 12 months.
Introducing English to a baby is a matter of repetition and patience. It's best to gradually incorporate new words and sounds, just like it happens with their first language. The main focus should be oral expression and comprehension and, of course, positive reinforcement.
Having one-way conversations with your infant might sound silly. But, talking to your little ones is actually beneficial and crucial to their development. In other words, baby talk is a good thing! Read Importance Of Socialization For Babies and The Importance Of Reading Book To Your Baby On Early Age
Do you constantly talk to your babies? How was it? Let us know in the comment section below!