One common question that people ask about is what they can do with their newborn babies to help foster language development. I always love it when people ask me this because it shows that they are already thinking about language learning!
Here are 3 tips that you can try with your little baby:
Talk to Them
This might sound obvious, but you would be surprised by the amount of people that I see who forget to talk to their babies. It may feel strange to talk to someone who can’t talk back to you, but once you try you will see your baby can respond in other ways. Babies love hearing your voice and even if you are just talking about what you are doing throughout the day, or read out loud the book that you are reading, this is a great chance for them to get used to the sounds and patterns of language.
Imitate Them
Imitation is a key part of learning language and a natural social behaviour that your baby will love. When they are making sounds you can pause and listen to them and then imitate the same sounds. This helps them to learn about the patterns of conversations and engaging in social interactions. You could try this when they are lying down looking at your face e.g., while they are on the change table.
Read to Them
It is never too early to start reading to your child. Although they will not understand the words yet, reading can be a great bonding activity. Getting into it while they are young will help them to foster a love of reading and language as they grow up.
Language learning should be fun and playful so no need to be pressured to do complicated language activities. If you can build some of these simple tips into your daily routines, then they will go a long way. Have fun!!
