Children learn to talk by hearing words over and over again. Children usually need to hear a new word many, many times before they will be able to say it themselves. Children also need to learn how to put the words they are able to say in the write order to make phrases and sentences.
Talking is also sometimes called ‘expressive language’.
To help your child to develop their use of words and short phrases, please see our handouts below.
When needing to work on specific parts of grammar, the resources below may be of use:
What are Memorised Phrases?
There is not one set route for children to learn language. Sometimes children learn words as units, starting with single words and building these up to create longer phrases and sentences. However, other times children memorise chunks of language or phrases as a single unit of language which they then use to communicate. Over time, children learn to use these more flexibly, breaking these memorised phrases down into smaller components and individual words which they then learn to join back together.
Some people also use the term ‘delayed echolalia’, ‘gestalts’ or ‘scripts’ to describe this type of communication.