What are the language milestones for a 2 year old?
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Page Content Article Body Your two-year-old not only understands most of what you say to him, but also speaks with a rapidly growing vocabulary of fifty or more words. Over the course of this year, he’ll graduate from two- or three-word sentences (“Drink juice,” “Mommy want cookie”) to those with four, five, or even six words (“Where’s the ball, Daddy?” “Dolly sit in my lap”). He’s also beginning to use pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and understands the concept of “mine” (“I want my cup,” “I see my mommy”). Pay attention to how he also is using language to describe ideas and information and to express his physical or emotional needs and desires. It’s human nature to measure your toddler’s verbal abilities against those of other children his age, but you should try to avoid this. At this time, there’s more variation in language development than in any other area. While some preschoolers develop language skills at a steady rate, others seem to master words in an uneven manner. And some children are naturally more talkative than others. This doesn’t mean that the more verbal children are necessarily smarter or more advanced than the quieter ones, nor does it even mean that they have richer vocabularies. In fact, the quiet child may know just as many words but be choosier about speaking them. As a general rule, boys start talking later than girls, but this variation—like most others mentioned above—tends to even out as children reach school age. Without any formal instruction, just by listening and practicing, your child will master many of the basic rules of grammar by the time she enters school. You can help enrich his vocabulary and language skills by making reading a part of your everyday routine. At this age, he can follow a story line and will understand and remember many ideas and pieces of information presented in books. Even so, because he may have a hard time sitting still for too long, the books you read to him should be short. To keep his attention, choose activity-oriented books that encourage him to touch, point, and name objects or to repeat certain phrases. Toward the end of this year, as his language skills become more advanced, he’ll also have fun with poems, puns, or jokes that play with language by repeating funny sounds or using nonsense phrases. For some children, however, this language-development process does not run smoothly. In fact, about one in every ten to fifteen children has trouble with language comprehension and/or speech. For some children, the problem is caused by hearing difficulty, low intelligence, lack of verbal stimulation at home, or a family history of speech delays. In most cases, though, the cause is unknown. If your pediatrician suspects your child has difficulty with language, he’ll conduct a thorough physical exam and hearing test and, if necessary, refer you to a speech/language or early-childhood specialist for further evaluation. Early detection and identification of language delay or hearing impairment is critically important, so treatment can begin before the problem interferes with learning in other areas. Unless you and your pediatrician identify the difficulty and do something about it, your child may have continuous trouble with classroom learning. Last Updated8/1/2009SourceCaring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 (Copyright © 2009 American Academy of Pediatrics)The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances. Your child will soon be able to understand a range of single words and some simple questions accompanied by gestures – for example, ‘where is daddy?’ and follow short one step instructions – for example, ‘bring me your teddy’. He or she will also develop an understanding of his or her daily routines and start to anticipate common everyday activities when he or she sees certain objects and hears familiar words. For example, dinnertime may be recognised by the words ‘dinner’ or ‘food, yummy’ and perhaps also by seeing a spoon or plate or bottle. Your child will also begin to associate names of objects with the object itself and may bring you a familiar object – for example, a shoe, from another room when asked to. At this stage, your child will begin to be interested in listening to you naming body parts – for example, eyes or tummy, and will start to point to them when named. He or she will probably learn some new words each week. Your child will enjoy bouncing, laughing, kicking, throwing, tugging, pushing away and pointing in order to communicate his needs. He or she will now be able to sustain interest in a book or pictures for two or more minutes, if helped by an adult. What is typical 2 year old language development?Speak in two- and three-word phrases or sentences. Use at least 200 words and as many as 1,000 words. State their first name. Refer to themselves with pronouns (I, me, my or mine)
Should a 2 year old be talking in full sentences?A typical 2-year-old can construct sentences of two or three words, often without a verb. For example, a child might say, "There cat" for "There is a cat." Gifted children, however, will often be able to speak in fuller sentences at age 2. By age 3, a gifted child's language may already resemble adult speech.
What core language skills are developed at 2 years?At around two years of age your child will probably have built up a core vocabulary of about one to two hundred words, and learned to join two words together. It is important to remember that children at this stage often do not pronounce words clearly, and that this is perfectly normal.
How clear should a 2 year old speak?If your child is still occasionally babbling or speaking in a way where you can't understand everything precisely, don't worry. At 2 years old, parents and caregivers should understand roughly 50% of a child's speech.
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