How to teach my child to speak: 6 tips

Create favorable situations for a child to learn to speak It is one of the basic concerns and objectives of many fathers and mothers, especially if they are new. It is normal, since language is one of the basic psychological skills; thanks to it, the little ones can create abstract concepts logically articulated with each other, so begin to have a relatively realistic understanding of nature, society and themselves themselves. Without language, intelligence does not develop.

Although as fathers, mothers and guardians we cannot guarantee that a little one will perfectly learn to speak in 100% of the cases, Normally it is possible to create the right conditions for them to internalize the necessary skills to do so and practice it. For know how to teach a son or daughter to speak you have to adapt to your way of thinking, but also be clear that we have limited power to influence it.

• Related article: "The 4 stages of language development"

How to teach my son to speak?

Below we will see several key ideas to do everything possible to generate effective language learning in our sons or daughters. However, it must be borne in mind that

each case is unique and the conditions in which each boy or girl grows up are also unique.

On the other hand, whatever happens, the little ones cannot be blamed if we perceive that they are not advancing at the desired pace. In extreme cases, it is even possible that this slowdown is due to neurological alterations, so that learning can only serve to avoid further delay. However, these are exceptional cases.

1. Make them the protagonists

Forget the format of master classes in which the apprentice is silent and listens and the teacher speaks, transmitting the information that the other must internalize and memorize. Language is something that develops in contexts of real interaction, and therefore, to teach children to speak, these dynamics must be generated, even if it is by resorting to fictitious characters who talk about them and tell stories.

In practice, this means that we don't have to limit ourselves to exposing our children to language. You have to make them participate in it, both listening and saying things. Thus, by helping them to talk to us, even if it is interrupting, we will make them feel more and more motivated to use language to understand the world and the interesting stories that entrails.

• You may be interested in: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

2. Don't describe, narrate

To capture the interest of the little ones about an aspect of reality that they are going to know through language, it is much better to do it through stories and narrations than through descriptions. These stories get more attention., because they have a beginning, a middle and an end, and they promise the resolution of a situation, while the descriptions do reference to static realities that, although they can also be instructive, have less power when it comes to claiming the interest of children.

3. Use words that you use in your day to day

Centuries of formal education have caused some mothers and fathers to adopt an overly formal mindset when teaching their little ones to speak, as if it were a traditional school implanted in home. But in the early stages of childhood, learning must take the form of a game. One that entails certain challenges, but a game after all, based on situations of real interaction with real people (regardless of whether they embody characters that are not).

Therefore, it is necessary to use concepts and references that the boy or girl uses in their day to day. For example, if you like animals, make animals the protagonists of a narrative that we use to make them feel appealed by a story in which they can participate by asking questions and challenging the protagonists.

4. Do not set abstract goals

Faced with the question of "how to teach my child to speak?", some parents commit the sin of sticking too closely to a way of reasoning typical of adults, and not of children. In such early stages of childhood development, certain milestones in the acquisition of language that are common must be taken as a reference, but it is not good to be very rigid with it. In the first months and years of life, it is difficult for children to understand what is happening in terms of a learning process and the expectations that this generates in their relatives.

So, you have to stimulate them with concrete situations, but we must not talk to them arguing in abstract terms referring to goals that go beyond the here and now. For example, asking them to increase their vocabulary by looking at words used by adults is not recommended, nor is asking them to learn to use verb conjugations. Doing so would create frustrating situations.

5. Ask

If you ask from time to time about conclusions that emerge from what has been explained, you create a mechanism for the little ones to put the five senses in the interaction situation through the language. That makes it easier for them to learn more in less time. Also, this way it helps them not only listen, but also speak.

6. Congrats on the progress

Another way to make our sons and daughters learn to speak is to show signs of joy at the progress. In very early stages of childhood this already works by the simple fact of creating sounds associated with positive emotions, and when it is already has begun to develop a sophisticated conception of the world and of one's own self, reinforces self-esteem and encourages involvement in learning.