{"id":2278,"date":"2020-04-14T10:20:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T08:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/blog\/when-children-say-first-words\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T12:25:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:25:13","slug":"when-children-say-first-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Children first words: what are they?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A <strong>child\u2019s first words<\/strong> are a real milestone for the rest of the family. Unfortunately, however, there are a few widely held beliefs about <strong>language development<\/strong> that have no basis in fact.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, it\u2019s definitely true that interacting with parents in an engaging environment is essential for language development. So what sorts of activities should you try with your children to encourage them to say their first words? And at what age are they likely to start talking?<\/p>\n<h2>A baby\u2019s first words are\u2026 not words!<\/h2>\n<p>According to a very popular (and dwindling) belief,\u00a0<strong>girls\u00a0<\/strong>pip boys to the post when it comes to formulating their first words, while others believe that the\u00a0<strong>first words spoken by children\u00a0<\/strong>tend to be \u2018mum\u2019 or \u2018dad.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, although we might be breaking a few parents\u2019 hearts, a child\u2019s first \u2018words\u2019 are often not words at all, but simply a\u00a0<strong>random combination of syllables\u00a0<\/strong>expressed as the child learns to use their mouth.<\/p>\n<p>A baby\u2019s first words (or rather what their parents choose to hear) are nothing but\u00a0<strong>babbling<\/strong> or the random and uncontrolled pronunciation of sounds uttered during the first few weeks of life.<\/p>\n<h2>When does speech development truly begin for children?<\/h2>\n<p>Concrete\u00a0<strong>language development\u00a0<\/strong>begins between 13 and 18 months old. During this time, children begin to make progress with intentional communication. That is, they learn to<strong>\u00a0associate sounds with intentions<\/strong>, such as when they (finally) use syllables to call out for their mother, expecting to see her appear.<\/p>\n<p>Children are around\u00a0<strong>two and a half years old\u00a0<\/strong>by the time they learn to form two-word sentences, and although two-year-olds\u2019 tend to have a vocabulary of at least a hundred words, they haven\u2019t quite mastered the art of joining them together yet.<\/p>\n<h2>How to help children develop language<\/h2>\n<p>There are a few rules to follow during their first months of life to help\u00a0<strong>children pronounce their first words<\/strong>. Try not to distort words or use baby talk. It\u2019s important to teach children\u00a0<strong>correct and functional\u00a0<\/strong>sounds by saying complex sentences in their presence.<\/p>\n<p>Placing children in an active<strong>\u00a0verbal environment\u00a0<\/strong>is very important. Scientific studies have shown that children raised in big families with older siblings, or those who attend nursery, start talking earlier and use more advanced language than children who do not have these opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reading fairy tales\u00a0<\/strong>to children is also very stimulating for language development. Children will listen to and observe their parents while learning to imitate their mouth movements. If you choose to rely on<strong>\u00a0your television,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>tablet\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>smartphone\u00a0<\/strong>to read stories and provide entertainment, you won\u2019t see quite the same progression. This is because your child will not be able to establish a proper connection with the speaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A child\u2019s first words are a real milestone for the rest of the family. Unfortunately, however, there are a few widely held beliefs about language development that have no basis in fact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When do children say their first words, and what are they? | Eurotrad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Parents often have fond memories of their children\u2019s first words, but their actual language tends to develop much later on. Here\u2019s when and how it happens.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When do children say their first words, and what are they? | Eurotrad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parents often have fond memories of their children\u2019s first words, but their actual language tends to develop much later on. Here\u2019s when and how it happens.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eurotrad: Agenzia di Traduzioni\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-14T08:20:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T11:25:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/parole-bambini_in.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Redazione Eurotrad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Redazione Eurotrad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Redazione Eurotrad\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf8140ef38680af40179d65fae3d143\"},\"headline\":\"Children first words: what are they?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-14T08:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T11:25:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/parole-bambini_in.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Curiosities\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/\",\"name\":\"When do children say their first words, and what are they? | Eurotrad\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/when-children-say-first-words\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/parole-bambini_in.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-14T08:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T11:25:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Parents often have fond memories of their children\u2019s first words, but their actual language tends to develop much later on. 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