No means of communication is as versatile and precise as a language. All the mystery and misunderstanding of the guessing game of gesture is transformed as soon as your child can talk. Your little one start to experiment with their voice at about 3 months, and babble, coo, growl, whisper and yell at 6, but they don’t learn to say much until they are 18 months, when speech usually blossoms. [source]
Here’s a chart to help you see your child’s language development and progress.
| Age of Child | Typical Language Development |
| 12 – 13 Months | Verbalisation with intonation Responds to his name Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a fragment of a word) Understands simple instructions, especially if verbalise or physical cues are given Practices inflection ******************************* |
| 18 Months | Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words Vocabulary chiefly made up of nouns Repeats a word or phrase over and over Is able to follow simple commands ******************************* |
| 24 Months | Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under Combines words into a short sentence, largely noun-verb combinations Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words Rhythm and fluency often poor Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused My and mine are beginning to emerge Responds to such commands as “show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)” ******************************* |
| 36 Months | Use pronouns I, you, me correctly Is using some plurals and past tenses Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under Knows major parts of the body and should be able to indicate these if not name Handles three word sentences easily Vocabulary of approximately 900-1000 words About 90% of what child says should be intelligible Verbs begin to dominate Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and activities Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason Able to reason out such questions as “what must you do when you are sleepy, hungry, cold, or thirsty?” Should be able to give his sex, name, age Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands what is expected ******************************* |
| 48 Months | Knows names of familiar animals Can use at least four prepositions or demonstrate his understanding of their meanings when given commands Names common objects in picture books or magazines Knows one or more colours Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly Can usually repeat words of four syllables Demonstrates understanding of over and under Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b, m, w, n well-established Often indulges in make-believe Extensive verbalisation as he carries out activities Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented Readily follows simple commands even though the stimulus is not in sight Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds ******************************* |
| 60 Months | Can use many descriptive words spontaneously (both adjectives and adverbs) Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heavy-light, etc. Has number concepts of 4 or more Can count to ten Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems Should know all vowels and the consonants, m, p, b, h, w, k, g, t, d, n, ng, y Should be able to repeat sentences with as many as nine words Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair) Should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions Should know his age Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after, while, tomorrow, yesterday, today Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and some complex sentences Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct ******************************* |
| 6 Years | In addition to the above consonants, these should be mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful Should be able to tell one rather connected story about a picture, noticing the relationship between objects and situations ******************************* |
| 7 Years | Should have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the soft g as in George Should handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp, short-long, sweet-sour, etc. Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc. Should be able to tell time to quarter hour Should be able to do simple reading and to write many words ******************************* |
| 8 Years | Can relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at some time in the past Complex and compound sentences should be used easily Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions (tense, pronouns, plurals) All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple compositions Social amenities should be present in his speech in appropriate situations Control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and appropriately established Can carry on conversation at a rather adult level Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition Has well developed time and number concepts |