language development

Language development is an amazing thing to observe. How do they learn a language in their first two years? How long would it take you to learn Chinese? Obviously, there are special factors involved at this young age. Don't the experts say that you can only learn a language without accent in the first seven years? Apparently that is the prime time for such development. So, as parents, doesn't it make sense that for anything to come out, something has to go in. I think this is called receptive language, what you put in and expressive language, what comes back out. So, it is never too young to talk to a child. Talk as you normally would, or should, and they learn the patterns of the sounds, tone, pitch and gradually make associations with the activity or objects. My youngest daughter has been pretty amazing with her one child. She has always talked to him a lot, in fact to the point that we thought she was a little extreme in the things that she said to him. Well, guess what, at age 2, his language skills are pretty impressive. A cute story: I was with them a couple of weeks ago. He was working a puzzle in a store while we shopped. A lady asked how old he was while observing him working the puzzle. When I told her, she said that he was doing very well. I asked him the name of the vehicle he was placing in the puzzle and he said, "Excavator"; she just smiled and rolled her eyes. It is a physiological fact; a person, even a child, must hear language to learn to speak the language. So, read and talk to them, in your normal voice...a lot...and see what happens. That said, early language development just makes communicating with a toddler easier, but don't worry, you won't be able to tell the early talkers from the others when they go to first grade. In fact a lot of the things that we have concern about such as when they walk or when they potty train will not be an issue when they are in first grade. It will all happen in good time. Anyone who has raised more than one knows that they are all different.