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How to Support Your Child's Language Development
From Two to Three Years of Age
What can you expect your child to do?
During this period, your child will understand more concepts and ideas and express himself or herself more clearly. The toddler:
Understands descriptive words like "big" or "happy" and may know some differences or opposites, such as up-down, in-out, big-little.
Knows and begins to use some pronouns such as "me," "you" and "I."
Notices sounds in the environment and recognizes what they are, such as the television, the doorbell, or the telephone.
Has a vocabulary of more than 40 spoken words and understands more than 50 words at 24 months, and is adding new words rapidly.
Asks for things by name and uses short sentences to talk about them.
Uses question intonation to ask for things, such as "My ball?"
Pronounces words more accurately but may leave off ending sounds.
Only about half of what your child says is understandable to adults who are unfamiliar with him or her. Those who are familiar will understand more of what your child says.
What can you do to encourage language development?
Here are some activities to do with your two-year-old to continue to encourage and support his or her language and communicative development. There are no strict divisions of age at which these activities are appropriate; you and your child may be doing these before he or she is two years old, but these are things that most children seem to respond to and enjoy around this age range.
Continue to use clear simple sentences with your child.
Ask your child questions that allow him or her to make choices ("Do you want juice or milk?"); these show a child the power of using language to communicate.
Pay attention when your child is speaking and make it clear that what he or she is saying is important. Ask your child to repeat if you do not understand, but do so in a supportive way, such as, "I know you want a block. Tell me again which block you want."
Help your child increase his or her vocabulary by using different words for the same thing (such as "mommy," "lady," "woman"), by using new words in clear contexts that help the child learn the meaning and by reading books, pointing out and naming objects and actions on each page, and describing what you see.
Play naming games and talk about objects and their functions (for example, "This is a spoon. We eat with a spoon.").
Sort toys or objects into categories, such as clothes, foods, things to draw with.
Look at family photos and name familiar people in them.
Continue to sing songs and tell nursery rhymes or traditional children's stories.
When should you worry?
This is a busy time in your child's life. Your child is exploring and having many experiences that he or she will want to talk about. If your child does not seem to understand the things you say, is not using word combinations to make his or her wants known, or does not seem to be learning new words, or if your child is exhibiting any frustration with his or her ability to communicate, you should consult your doctor, nurse, or a speech-language pathologist.
For a checklist of activities you can use to determine whether your child is developing on schedule, see Additional Resources.
How to Support Your Child's Language Development
During the First Year of Life
From One to Two Years of Age
» From Two to Three Years of Age
From Three to Four Years of Age
From Four to Five Years of Age
Bilingual Language Development
Additional Resources
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