Examples of milestones of language development

-Newborn:

• Aware of sounds and noises (may move arms/legs in response to sound of voice)
• baby may try to copy mouth movements when you talk to them.

-Up to 6 months:

• Baby uses a different cry for different situations.
• By 3 months baby is making cooing sounds which will begin to change to babbling
• At 4-5 months baby may start to laugh and squeal

-Up to 1 year:

• At 1 year baby may be saying 2 to 3 words and repeating simple sounds.
• Baby will begin to use a variety of tuneful sounds that resemble speech patterns.
• Baby may begin to start taking turns waiting for you to speak, then babbling back.
• Baby will understand lots of words.
• Baby will let you know what they want through gestures.

-Up to 2 years:

• Toddlers may be saying and repeating several word.
• Beginning to join words together.
• Will chat to self using their own baby language.
• Toddlers will understand a lot more than they can say.
• may be starting to learn colours and shapes.

-2 to 5 years:

• Most young children will understand most simple words by 3 years.
• At around 3 you can expect a child to know know lots of words and join words together in short sentences.
• At around 4 years a child will be able to make up their own imaginative stories.
• By 5 years old most young children will speak clearly enough to be understood.
• By 4-5 years most will be using long and detailed sentences.