Children will come up with the most extraordinary things when they start using language. Cute things, hilarious things and, sometimes, baffling things that may start us wondering whether we should worry about their language development. This article summarizes some of the knowledge we have about typical child language acquisition, that is, what you, as a caregiver, need not worry about. The last sections give a few pointers about when to seek professional help concerning your child's language development and about resources on language acquisition. These resources (and this FAQ) deal with monolingual language acquisition. For multilingual language acquisition, please refer to the Ask-a-Linguist FAQs on Bilingual and Multilingual Children.
Child Language Acquisition
Children will come up with the most extraordinary things when they start using language. Cute things, hilarious things and, sometimes, baffling things that may start us wondering whether we should worry about their language development. This article summarizes some of the knowledge we have about typical child language acquisition, that is, what you, as a caregiver, need not worry about. The last sections give a few pointers about when to seek professional help concerning your child's language development and about resources on language acquisition. These resources (and this FAQ) deal with monolingual language acquisition. For multilingual language acquisition, please refer to the Ask-a-Linguist FAQs on Bilingual and Multilingual Children.