As your baby makes intellectual, emotional and behavioral leaps, he will gradually learn to use words to describe what he sees, hears, feels and thinks. When babies start talking Babies learn to speak in the first two years of life. At first, he uses his tongue, lips, palate and any new teeth to make sounds – “oh” and “ah” for the first month or two, and soon after, he can babble. These sounds will soon become real words, and your baby may be able to say “mommy” and “daddy” as early as four or five months old, bringing tears of excitement to your eyes. From then on, your baby will learn more words from you, your husband, and everyone around him. Between the ages of one and two, he will begin to speak in sentences with two or three words. How your baby learns to speak The baby’s wail at birth represents his first entry into the world of language. It is his way of expressing the shock of emerging from the seclusion of the womb into a new and unfamiliar world. From that moment on, he begins to absorb the sounds, intonations and vocabulary needed to shape the way he will speak. Speaking and listening are inseparable. By listening to people speak, babies learn how words are pronounced and how sentences are formed. In fact, many researchers believe that the work of understanding language begins while the baby is still in the womb. As your unborn baby gets used to hearing your steady heartbeat, he will begin to listen to the sound of your voice. Within days of birth, he will be able to distinguish your voice from the voices of others. Learning to talk: 1-3 months The first way a baby communicates with people is by crying. A squeal may indicate that he is hungry, while a whimpering, intermittent cry may indicate that he needs a diaper change. When your baby is older, he will make cute giggles, sighs, and chirps, becoming a little sound maker. As for your baby’s ability to understand language, at only 4 weeks old, they will be able to distinguish similar syllables like “ma” and “na”. Learning to talk: At 4 months, your baby will begin to mumble and combine vowels and consonants, such as “baba” or “yaya”. Your baby may occasionally say “mommy” or “daddy” for the first time, and while this will certainly excite you, he hasn’t really connected these words to you yet. This won’t happen until he’s about 1 year old or so. The words your baby tries to say sound like a stream-of-consciousness monologue in another language, with endless words strung together. Vocalization is playful for your baby, and he is trying to make a variety of interesting sounds with his tongue, teeth, palate, and vocal cords. At this stage, this babbling sounds the same no matter which dialect you use at home. You may find that your baby likes certain sounds, such as “ka” and “da,” and keeps repeating them over and over again because he likes the sounds and the way his mouth feels when he says them. Learning to talk: 4-7 months By now your baby knows his name and knows that you are talking to him when you call his name. He will even turn his head toward you, and he is more comfortable with the tone of your voice. Your baby will also act happy when your tone of voice sounds happy, and if you talk to him sternly, he will become upset and may cry. Your baby is also starting to distinguish between strangers and acquaintances, and may cry if you put him in the arms of someone he doesn’t know. Learning to talk: 6-9 months Now when your baby mumbles or pronounces words, they sound like they make sense. This is because he is using a similar tone of voice and intonation to when you speak. Encourage your baby’s teething by reading to him. Learning to Talk: 12-17 months Your baby can use one or two words and knows what they mean. He may even practice changing the tone of his voice and raising it when he asks a question, such as saying, ‘Want a hug? . He is becoming aware of the importance of speech and the power of language in expressing his needs. Learning to talk: 18-24 months By now your baby may have a vocabulary of up to 200 words, many of which are nouns. Between 18 and 20 months, babies are learning vocabulary at a rate of 10 or more words per day. Some babies can learn a new word every hour and a half, so you need to watch your language. He can also join two words together to make basic sentences like “hold the baby”. By the time your baby is 2 years old, he can use three-word sentences and sing simple melodies. Your baby’s sense of self will mature and he will begin to talk about himself, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, what he thinks, what he feels, and so on. Pronouns can be confusing, so you may find him trying to avoid using them, such as saying “baby throw” instead of “I throw”. Learning to talk: 25-36 months Your baby will spend some time trying to figure out the right volume to use when speaking, but he’ll pick it up quickly. He will also begin to use pronouns, such as “I” and “you. Between the ages of two and three, your baby’s vocabulary grows to 300 words. He can join nouns and verbs together to make simple but complete sentences, such as “I am going now. By age 3, your baby will be a more skilled talker. He will be able to talk consistently and adjust his intonation, speech patterns, and diction to the person he is talking to. For example, he will use simpler words when talking to another child, but will use more elaborate words when talking to you. By this time, the baby may be almost completely understood. He can say his name and age fluently, and he is happy to answer when asked by others.