成人快手

Just how much influence do you have on your child's language learning?

Dr Michelle Peter helps one mum find out, using a device that tracks the number of words her 21-month-old son hears and says over the course of a day.

During the experiment Elizabeth from the Wirral was given a device to use with her son Percy, which kept a record of the amount of words she said to him throughout the day, as well as the number of words Percy said back to her.

She was challenged to increase the number of words she said to Percy to see how that affected the amount Percy spoke.

Elizabeth said 700 more words to Percy throughout the course of the day, 5% more than the previous day. To Elizabeth's surprise, Dr Michelle was able to reveal that Percy had said 300 more words back to her that day, an increase of 13% on the previous day.

Following on from the experiment, as Elizabeth and her husband began to think more about the amount they spoke to Percy each day, they noticed a change in his talking.

He's putting words together, which he wasn't doing a couple of weeks ago. Like 'I want this one' rather just saying 'banana'.

How much should I speak to my toddler?

It's simple really. As they're learning to speak, the more words your child hears from you, the more likely they are to respond themselves over time. Once your child starts saying words, they're more likely to say more as they hear more and more language.

In addition, children who hear lots of language when they're younger tend to be those children that do better at school.

When should I start speaking to my baby?

Even if it feels a bit silly at first, you can start speaking to babies before they're even born by chatting and singing to your baby bump during pregnancy.

Then, when baby arrives, even though they're unable to respond, try and talk to them as much as you can about all of the things they see around them and that they take an interest in.

Talking them through all the things you do together throughout the day, as you do them, is a simple way to make sure they hear lots and lots of words.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, Toddler Percy holding the LENA device, A mum from the Wirral was given a device that recorded the amount of words she said to her son, Percy.

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