Theme: Education & Learning
Topic: How babies learn to talk
Listen to the podcast episode here: https://www.bbc.com/learningenglish/features/6-minute-english_2024/ep-241128
Comprehension Questions
- At what stage of language development do babies start making simple sounds like “ga” or “ma”?
- What are the two main skills Professor Julian Pine identifies that babies need to develop for speaking?
- Why do children sometimes say ‘raffe’ instead of ‘giraffe’?
- What is the “classic example” given of children dropping unstressed syllables?
- Why is it challenging for babies to link words to objects?
Discussion Questions
- How important do you think parents’ interactions are in language development?
- What strategies could parents use to help their babies learn language?
- Do you remember any funny mispronunciations from children you know?
- How do you think learning a first language differs from learning additional languages?
- What can we learn from how children learn to speak when it comes to learning an additional language?
Extension
For extra listening practice, watch this video from Babbel about Language Learning vs Language Acquisition
Example Answers
1. How important do you think parents’ interactions are in language development?
“Parents’ interactions are absolutely crucial – you can’t pick up a language out of thin air. From day one, babies are soaking up the language around them like a sponge. My sister-in-law is bringing up her kids bilingual, and it’s amazing how they’ve taken to both languages just by being exposed to them day in, day out.”
2. What strategies could parents use to help their babies learn language?
“I’d say parents need to get into the habit of narrating what they’re doing throughout the day. For instance, when you’re making breakfast, you could say ‘I’m cutting up an apple’ or ‘Let’s pour some milk.’ It’s also worth pointing out objects and repeating their names – this helps kids catch on to what things are called.”
3. Do you remember any funny mispronunciations from children you know?
“Oh, this brings back memories! My nephew used to come out with the funniest things. He’d call spaghetti ‘basketti’ and couldn’t wrap his head around the word ‘hospital’ – it always came out as ‘hostible’. We used to crack up every time!”
4. How do you think learning a first language differs from learning additional languages?
“When you’re picking up your mother tongue, you just go with the flow – there’s no pressure to get it right straight away. But when you’re learning a second language, people tend to get hung up on making mistakes. I think we need to cut ourselves some slack and just dive in, like kids do.”
5. What can we learn from how children learn to speak when it comes to learning an additional language?
“We should take a leaf out of children’s books and not be afraid to make mistakes. Babies don’t throw in the towel when they say something wrong – they just keep at it. Plus, they’re not afraid to play around with sounds and imitate what they hear. I think we should brush off our inhibitions and follow their lead.”