Children acquire language in stages, and the order of these phases isn’t set in stone. Young children acquire the basics of language through play and experimentation, listening to adults, television, and even music. Children quickly develop the ability to reproduce sounds and words and begin to combine sounds into new words. However, language acquisition is much more complicated than picking up words by absorbing them through their environment. While it’s tempting to compare language acquisition to a sponge, it’s a less than accurate comparison.
Children learn language rules by building words from a small vocabulary. They can also learn new words, and can apply grammatical rules to create new phrases. It’s an important part of human communication. Children also learn to recognize word boundaries, which enable them to put meaningful words in a logically structured order. By the time they reach kindergarten, they’ve learned a lot about words, meaning, and sentences. It’s also important for them to learn how to use the language.
Toddlers are also capable of following a simple two-part conversation. They understand the use of colours and shapes, and can classify objects by specific attributes. They can also describe things, give short oral reports, and use language at a higher comprehension level. At this age, toddlers are able to ask “what” questions, understand the use of irregular past tense words, and distinguish between reality and fantasy. When it comes to language learning, toddlers make great progress in terms of comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.
As a child begins to use language in everyday speech, their vocabulary and grammar skills increase rapidly. Unlike adults, children begin to notice patterns in language and overcorrect mistakes. Once they are able to learn the correct grammar, they can begin to use their own language to create sentences. Ultimately, language mastery will improve again, as children learn to settle into a language and build on it. These steps are called mimicking and are the earliest stages of language learning.
While the language skills of children start early, they do so without realizing it. Ultimately, they will begin to use sentences to communicate what they want and need. This process can take years and require careful planning, but it is certainly a long-term strategy. The language teaching and school environment are essential. If you want your children to become fluent in a new language, you have to start teaching them the basics early.
The ability to learn language seems to be a genetic gift. The human brain is able to learn new language with very little instruction. Infancy is a critical period for language acquisition. Language is an essential component of human communication and the ability to speak another language is a natural outcome.