Long before your baby can actually talk, or form understandable words, they are learning language skills, by gurgling and making
various sounds.
These rudimentary skills will very soon be replaced by actual words and sentences, and before you know it you will have a child who
can communicate, reason, tell stories and gets involved in lively discussions with you.
Below are the language milestones you can expect:
Birth to 3 Months
Babies will respond to the person talking to them
Recognise the voice of their mother
They will react to different tones
Start copying sounds
Babies communicate through the movement of their bodies, by babbling, laughing or crying
3 Months to 6 Months
Babies start talking back to people they know, and are comfortable with
They will copy facial expressions
They will try and copy the sounds they hear
They will start noticing the sounds that they make
Smile when spoken to
Star vocalising their specific needs
6 months to 9 months
They will start to laugh at themselves when playing
Imitate vowel sounds, such as Mama or dada
Associate gestures with word, such as bye bye and waving their hand
They will express themselves vocally by laughing if they are happy or screaming if they are annoyed
They will babble constantly, and learn how to self sooth
9 months to 12 months
Babies will vocalise to attract attention
They communicate with sounds
Recognised their own name, those of familiar people and objects
Can understand simple instructions, like no!
Can say a couple of words and use them in the right context
1 year to 2 years
Understand the meaning of several words
Babble certain words continuously
React to instructions, like eat your food
Responds correctly when asked, where?
Copying and saying many words correctly
Understands that they are an individual, by using words like, me, mine or my
Repeats words that you say to them
2 years to 3 years
They talk to themselves continuously
Learn new words all the time and has a vocabulary of about 200 words
They can point to objects when you say the name
They start to combine words and make phrases
Respond to simple questions
They enjoy being read too, and will ask for their favourite story
They can tell you what happened during the day, when prompted
3 years to 4 years
They speak in sentences
Will constantly be asking questions
Will talk to themselves or an imaginary friend while playing
They start to understand the concept time, like tomorrow we will go to the park
Can understand instructions, and can follow between 2 and 4 instructions in sequence
Understands comparisons, such as tall and small
Can remember and sing nursery rhymes
4 years to 5 years
Can count up to 20
Will correct grammar, most of the time.
Understand the past, present and future and uses them in the correct context
Can have a conversation
They can retell a story correctly
They can verbalise what they are thinking
Increased concentration span
They understand sequencing of events, like first you put your underwear on, then your clothes, then socks and finally shoes, to get dressed
5 years to 6 years
Fluently pronounce most of the sounds of their first language
They speak fluently and with confidence
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