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When your baby turns 18 months old, they will enter the “language explosion” phase. Get ready to be amazed and amused.
Your toddler’s communication skills at 18 months
- They can understand almost 200 words.
- They can partially pronounce at least 15 words.
- They can follow basic instructions like “come here” and “stop”. However, they may not always listen to you.
- They can answer simple questions like “where are your shoes?”. But they may sometimes ignore you.
They can ask for what they need with gestures and a few words.
Language development at 18 months
Beginning at 18 months your toddler will start learning words very quickly. They may pick up one new word every day. While they may have only used naming words – like mamma, dog, book etc. so far, they will now start using action words – like “go”, “eat” etc. They will also start using social words like “hi” “bye”, location words like “up”, “out” and descriptive words like “hot” and “big”.
They will start combining 2 or more words that they hear used together frequently – like “I love you” or “thank you”.
Significance of language development at 18 months
The “language explosion” phase is the golden chance to make your baby more intelligent by teaching them more words. Research says that the more words a child knows the more intelligent they will become. This will increase their learning speed when they go to school.
How can you help your toddler to learn more words?
- Talk a lot to your baby. Use specific words repeatedly. Avoid non-specific words.
Example – Say – “There is a car here. Whose car is it? The car is red. The car has black wheels”. Don’t say – “There is a car here. Whose is it? It is red and has black wheels.
Use all kinds of words.
Example – Let’s brush our teeth. Brushing will make our teeth shine. My brush is big and your brush is small. We can put both the brushes in the red glass after we finish brushing. This sentence uses – naming words, action words, location words and describing words repeatedly. Say this while you do the actions so that your baby learns the meaning and the usage of the words.
- Talk about the things your baby is currently focused on. They will then pay greater attention to what you are saying, and learn faster. Example – If your baby is playing with the comb, talk about the comb.
- Pause frequently to allow your baby to respond.
- Try to face your child when you speak so that they can imitate your lip movements.
- Avoid asking questions. Remember your baby cannot answer. Instead make statements. Explosive language development at 18 months makes this age a very exciting time. Just saying the right things as you go about your day can make your baby smarter. Make the most of this opportunity to build your baby’s brain.
Happy parenting!
By
Dr. Debmita Dutta MBBS, MD
This post is also available in: English
