How Children Learn Languages and Speech: A Guide for Adults

I've heard an educationist say that if we were to teach a child to speak like we teach adults, in terms of grammar and syllables and syntax, the child would not learn anything at all. The thought behind this is very true. Children have absorbent minds for learning to speak. Adults can create an environment where the child gains mastery over the art of speaking by building on his innate ability to absorb languages.

One of the biggest help that a child can get from the environment of adults is an understanding and appreciation of his attempts towards gaining mastery over language and how to speak.

What adults should know about the child's language learning process:

Try watching a foreign language movie without subtitles. How would you feel? That is the state of a child trying to master how to speak or learn a language. In fact a child will find it harder, because the child would also have to work on the motor skills needed to utter the syllables, something that the adult already has mastery over.

An understanding of the following aspects of a child's process of learning to speak will help the adult in creating a more conducive environment for the child to master the art of speaking

It is important for adults to know that the ages of 2 - 7 is the most sensitive in terms of language acquisition. During this stage, nature teaches children how to speak. It is also the age where memory is strong. Whatever language the child is exposed to during this age, is the language that the child will be able to speak without any imperfections, just like a natural. By the age of 3, the child already has a wealth of spoken language, intonations, modulations and most syllables peculiar to the language.

It is important for adults to know that exposure to how people speak and various languages will help the child enormously in gaining mastery over language.

It is important for adults to know that children only learn to speak by speaking. They learn by repetition. So repeated exposure to how people speak is a form of help that will help the child acquire language faster.