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How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life
In their first three years of life babies face the most complex learning endeavor they will ever undertake as human beings: They learn to talk. Now, as researchers make new forays into the mystery of the development of the human brain, authors Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, both developmental psychologists and language experts, offer parents a powerfully insightful guidebook to how infants--even while in the womb--begin to learn language. Along the way, the authors provide parents with the latest scientific findings, developmental milestones, and important advice on how to create the most effective learning environments for their children. This book takes readers on a fascinating, vitally important exploration of the dance between nature and nurture, and explains how parents can help their children learn more successfully.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 1, 2014
This is one of those books that you labor through the middling, boring part, and then -- WHAM!-- you get that one "nugget" that made the entire book invaluable to read. I received much more than one, though--there was just a significant one that immediately enhanced my own personal communication style and added another-much deeper-dimension, while also allowing me to reframe and understand past events and conversations. It grabs your attention and interest right away, and then delves into the analytical discourse deconstructing some of the tedious studies which-though absolutely necessary in the research-was just plain boring to plough through. Some of the studies were only fractionally different from each other. Of course, this is no fault of the author's, but it gave the middle third of the book more of a scientific journalism flavor, rather than the more easily flowing conversational style it begins and ends in. It's a gem, however, and highly-recommended for anyone looking for the origins and development of human language-over a broad chronological scale-or simply trying to understand the little people in their lives--whether it's a child in their circle of family and friends, their own "inner child," or both. Enjoy the ride!
April 25, 2023
i had to read this book for my language development class lmao
February 11, 2014
Researchers in language development present the findings on language development from womb to 3 years to a general audience. There's so much information presented here and yet it's never dry or boring.
I picked this up because I wanted some ideas of what I could be doing with my toddler to encourage him to talk more (he clearly understands a ton more than the handful of words he'll actually say when he feels like it), but I kept reading it because I was fascinated to learn all the different skills babies acquire long before they're even ready to talk that make that achievement possible.
Golinkoff and Hirsch-Pasek break down the research at all stages of development (prenatal-3 months, 4-8 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months, 2 chapters on 18-24 months, and 24-36 months) during the first 3 years to discuss what skills babies generally learn this period, what parents can do to encourage this development, a few fun experiments where parents can try to demonstrate these skills, and what might cause concern at this point (and just as importantly, what isn't a problem).
For the most part this is a pretty reassuring book, stressing that even before babies start talking, they're still busy learning a surprising number of skills required to make the leap to verbalizing, as well as stressing the fact that there's a wide range of ages where children learn to talk and most of the reasons children are speech delayed aren't even significant by the time they start school. As for my uninterested in speaking toddler, the book reassured me that as long as he's interested in communicating in other ways and speaks some, there's no need for concern until age 2.
As an English major in college and now a librarian, I'm definitely a fan of written and spoken language and was eager to learn about all the building blocks that go into using a spoken language to communicate. While this is written more for parents, there's enough concentration on the general building blocks of language (comparisons are made to babies learning other languages, including sign language, throughout the book) that any language enthusiast would find something to care about here.
I picked this up because I wanted some ideas of what I could be doing with my toddler to encourage him to talk more (he clearly understands a ton more than the handful of words he'll actually say when he feels like it), but I kept reading it because I was fascinated to learn all the different skills babies acquire long before they're even ready to talk that make that achievement possible.
Golinkoff and Hirsch-Pasek break down the research at all stages of development (prenatal-3 months, 4-8 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months, 2 chapters on 18-24 months, and 24-36 months) during the first 3 years to discuss what skills babies generally learn this period, what parents can do to encourage this development, a few fun experiments where parents can try to demonstrate these skills, and what might cause concern at this point (and just as importantly, what isn't a problem).
For the most part this is a pretty reassuring book, stressing that even before babies start talking, they're still busy learning a surprising number of skills required to make the leap to verbalizing, as well as stressing the fact that there's a wide range of ages where children learn to talk and most of the reasons children are speech delayed aren't even significant by the time they start school. As for my uninterested in speaking toddler, the book reassured me that as long as he's interested in communicating in other ways and speaks some, there's no need for concern until age 2.
As an English major in college and now a librarian, I'm definitely a fan of written and spoken language and was eager to learn about all the building blocks that go into using a spoken language to communicate. While this is written more for parents, there's enough concentration on the general building blocks of language (comparisons are made to babies learning other languages, including sign language, throughout the book) that any language enthusiast would find something to care about here.
June 24, 2007
My new standard baby shower gift, but not just for parents - more a "how it happens" than a "how to teach it". The authors are both PhDs AND mothers, so the information is easily accessable, but not dumbed down, with everyday examples of language use as well as descriptions of experiements designed to test specific theories.
February 8, 2008
this book relay's in GREAT DETAIL the fact that most babies babble, then imitate, the articulate.
DUH!!!
My favorite part is that each chapter ends with "activities" parents can do to further their child's language development.
My only regret is that I didn't read this in my leisure time while my kids were young enough to benefit, but rather went around blindly interacting with my kids unaware that I might be propelling their language abilities by leaps and bounds if only I had such pithy advice as this:
"babies will enjoy the attention and the language they hear in the 'Where's X?' game, in which family and friends are continually mentioned by name and Irving has to point or look at each person in turn".
WOOOOAAAA!!! I totally didn't even think of that game. I was wasting my time with "what does a cow say, and what does a sheep say" games and now - DAMN IT ALL ANYWAY my poor kids are just wandering around the house mooing and baaing and they don't know where the hell anyone is and I see now, I see the error of my ways!
If only I'd had this book - and if only my son was named "Irving"....things might be different.
DUH!!!
My favorite part is that each chapter ends with "activities" parents can do to further their child's language development.
My only regret is that I didn't read this in my leisure time while my kids were young enough to benefit, but rather went around blindly interacting with my kids unaware that I might be propelling their language abilities by leaps and bounds if only I had such pithy advice as this:
"babies will enjoy the attention and the language they hear in the 'Where's X?' game, in which family and friends are continually mentioned by name and Irving has to point or look at each person in turn".
WOOOOAAAA!!! I totally didn't even think of that game. I was wasting my time with "what does a cow say, and what does a sheep say" games and now - DAMN IT ALL ANYWAY my poor kids are just wandering around the house mooing and baaing and they don't know where the hell anyone is and I see now, I see the error of my ways!
If only I'd had this book - and if only my son was named "Irving"....things might be different.
July 27, 2011
Interesting book required by my language development class. This is a great book to use for class and presents the information in a comprehensible, readable way. I learned some really fascinating things about children's language abilities that I never knew! The audience of this book is mothers, not linguists, so don't be afraid to pick this one up and read it if you're a mom to be.
June 9, 2007
I LOVE this book, which I first read in a linguistics course in college. Babies and language are RAD. This book is neither too geared towards parents nor too scientific, so if doesn't matter if you have kids or you don't, or if you even like children at all.
August 23, 2014
I have to admit that I did not finish reading this book, but only because the info was repetitive after having taken a speech and language development course. In the half I read, I found the book interesting and well written for anyone to read, but definitely geared towards parents.
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July 20, 2013At one year and 8mths Cece is saying Daddy more clearly.
I think she can say Sleep instead of eep.
This book would be interesting to give an insight to the process but I think I would rather enjoy the rolling account of her speech development than analyze the process.
I think she can say Sleep instead of eep.
This book would be interesting to give an insight to the process but I think I would rather enjoy the rolling account of her speech development than analyze the process.
October 21, 2007
Fascinating book about speech development and how it is studied. Fun to compare it to what G is doing and try out the little "experiments" on him.
October 10, 2021
I’m giving this book 2 stars because I learned a couple useful things. But I’d like to give it less for the annoyance I felt throughout. The language is a little outdated. (The R word, for example.) I don’t have a huge problem with it, but some people do. My biggest problem is everything they said about deaf people.
For example:
After saying how important it is for your baby to hear your voice while in the womb, they said that’s a problem for deaf mothers who’s hearing babies never get to hear their voice. What??? They’re deaf, not non vocal!
They also said that deaf people often rely on the television to teach their hearing babies to speak. Are. You. Kidding. Me?!
These statements are so outrageous that it’s making me angry just typing this review. These woman are supposed to be scientists. They need to get themselves together.
A mother’s voice is soothing to her baby, no matter what that voice sounds like. And there are resources; family, friends, hearing partners, child care. Deaf people are just like you and me. None of us raise our children completely alone. Their babies hear and learn language everywhere. Including at home.
For example:
After saying how important it is for your baby to hear your voice while in the womb, they said that’s a problem for deaf mothers who’s hearing babies never get to hear their voice. What??? They’re deaf, not non vocal!
They also said that deaf people often rely on the television to teach their hearing babies to speak. Are. You. Kidding. Me?!
These statements are so outrageous that it’s making me angry just typing this review. These woman are supposed to be scientists. They need to get themselves together.
A mother’s voice is soothing to her baby, no matter what that voice sounds like. And there are resources; family, friends, hearing partners, child care. Deaf people are just like you and me. None of us raise our children completely alone. Their babies hear and learn language everywhere. Including at home.
April 23, 2018
This book covers language understanding from before birth to well into the toddler years. It gets into the weeds with details sometimes which is fascinating if it’s a topic or study you’re interested in. The topics I didn’t want the detail I just skimmed and within a couple pages would be onto something else.
I read this book when my toddler had about 40 words. It was indispensable at this age. I had no idea how much he understood, what letters he wouldn’t be able to say for some time, and what to look for in the near future (language burst). I’ve adapted some of how I speak and the words I use based on what I learned in this book. I could see coming back to it in 6 months and rereading the section relevant to my toddler’s age.
I read this book when my toddler had about 40 words. It was indispensable at this age. I had no idea how much he understood, what letters he wouldn’t be able to say for some time, and what to look for in the near future (language burst). I’ve adapted some of how I speak and the words I use based on what I learned in this book. I could see coming back to it in 6 months and rereading the section relevant to my toddler’s age.
April 27, 2020
The first half was so good, I think I was more into the more experimental half. nothing wrong with the second half, but I was expecting to like it even better, especially since it's closer to my daughter's age, but my possibly faulty recollection is that the examples in the second half were more anecdotal. Still, I'd really encourage any parent of a <3yo to read this, as it straddles the line perfectly between popular sciënce and experimental rigor.
August 19, 2021
Oh man, I thought I wrote a review of this already and now worry I don't remember as much.
I vaguely recall that I haven't liked it as much as I have the authors' other books, perhaps because this one is so specific in scope. The toddler section on humor and social awareness was interesting, I think...? The fact that little of this is sticking in my head might speak to the fact that it wasn't, perhaps, as life-changing as the texts about play and learning.
I vaguely recall that I haven't liked it as much as I have the authors' other books, perhaps because this one is so specific in scope. The toddler section on humor and social awareness was interesting, I think...? The fact that little of this is sticking in my head might speak to the fact that it wasn't, perhaps, as life-changing as the texts about play and learning.
May 5, 2017
This is a book a non-linguistics major would probably find interesting as it may answer some questions regarding language acquisition. For me, a linguistics major, I found myself often putting the book down, skipping pages, reading through the section. It's kind of boring considering that I already know this stuff.
June 12, 2021
This was overall a really interesting listen. I appreciated that the author's ideas were based on scientific experiments and really looked at how kids aquire language. I would have liked a few more tangible tips on what to do as parents, but overall interesting and worthwhile especially if you are the parent of a baby
August 30, 2022
I always enjoyed learning about communication so I figured I'd love this book, but I was instead underwhelmed and I found it quite tedious to get through.
August 19, 2021
I got bored near the end but I learned some useful things.
December 28, 2014
This account of how children learn language was fascinating and well-supported by research. It would be a fantastic shower gift for any parent who is interested in how their little ones learn to communicate. The best part, imo, are the instructions for how to conduct your own investigations with your own child. It's very fun to see your child learn language, and even more fun when you understand the process and know which features to watch for (e.g., properly using plurals).
February 19, 2013
A fascinating look at how babies and toddlers work to process language and learn to produce it themselves. The book is aimed at parents of babies, since each chapter contains exercises or mini-experiments to try at home with a child. It is amazing what researchers have been able to figure out about what babies know and can understand even before they are able to talk!
January 26, 2014
I keep hoping to get something out this
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April 25, 2008great information about typical language development in infants and children in first three years of life.
November 10, 2010
Very interesting.
August 7, 2016
I wish this had been a little more technical/scientific in terms of linguistics and grammar, actually. But it does have some good material about a very interesting subject
December 22, 2015
Interesting to learn a little bit more about how one acquires language.
December 27, 2021
Pick up again when Livia is 9 months old!
October 23, 2016
Interesting read on child development. Good set up, so busy parents can read, set down, get toddler & repeat.
November 5, 2016
2.5 stars
I read this book for my speech development class, and it was honestly just mediocre.
I read this book for my speech development class, and it was honestly just mediocre.
September 14, 2008
Excellent overview of child language development for any curious parents (to-be) out there!
unfinished-books
October 4, 2017Not what I was looking for. More about communication than learning how to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews