As children grow up their parents expect them to learn all the things, the normal way. Like standing on their own, walking by themselves by age one, extending their arm to grab a toy and learning to speak fluently. But there’s a lot that parents can do to speed up many natural processes. Language development is one area where parents can take proactive measures to ensure timely progress. Language is the key to all other developments. The faster a child learns to speak fluently, the earlier he manages to become an expert in everything else. Between age 2 and 3 children learn to speak fluently and can communicate with adults with no difficulty. To ensure that your child develops a tight grip on the language, here are five simple ways to speed up your child’s language development.

Read to them a lot: Reading is the simplest, easiest thing that can really pave the road when it comes to your child’s language development. It does not matter whether your child is a toddler or 3-year old, they all love it when you read to them. Depending upon your child’s age, you can choose appropriate books to read to her/him. From board books to picture books, short format to long format, everything you need to accelerate your child’s language development is easily available. Dedicate specific time slots to read to them, like after breakfast or before the afternoon nap. Reading will help your child develop a love for books which will benefit her/him in school as well.

Talk more to them: Talking to your child does not only bring you two closer but also plays a vital role in her / his language development. So try and strike a conversation whenever you can. Even if your child can’t speak the way you do, she/he would love when you go on and narrate little details. Like, ‘It’s time to change your clothes, do you like green or blue?’ or ‘What should we read today, about birds or colours?’ or ‘How does your food taste, yummy or yummier than yesterday?’ Her / his nodding and smiling will tell how much she/he is enjoying your words. Soon she/he will start to follow and imitate your tone and your talks will gradually turn into two-way conversations.

Listen to music together: Music has more to offer than just entertainment, for both adults and children alike. Children love listening to music and grooving on it. Music can be very well used as a tool to enhance their language development and make them grasp language better. Slow-paced songs or rhymes can really entice a child and make her/him pay attention. Also, it’s always good to sing along. When your child hears you sing, she/he will be more inclined towards mumbling the words she/he hears from you.

Watch animated videos: Children have a natural inclination towards animation. The colours, the movements and the fun, they all lead towards one thing – learning. Once you put an animated video on, it’s hard to turn it off without your child’s permission. Because once they start to like something, they want to see and go through it again and again. Use this habit of theirs in your favour to fast-track their language development. Let them go through rhymes and short story based animation with different characters. Watch an animation that involves animals as children love to watch and learn from them. In a short span, you will witness drastic changes in their spoken language and see them learn new words every day.

Go out often: At home, you have limited resources with which you can accelerate your child’s language development. Outside the home, your learning tools enhance multifold. So take your child out often and let her/him discover the world. Take her/him to the zoo and teach the names of all the animals. Go to the children’s museum and name everything she/he sees there. Let her/him have the first-hand experience of watching people speak. Every activity she/he sees and participates in will take her/him closer to language development. The more you take your child out to visit different places, the faster she/he will learn and grasp.

Language development is a gradual process that requires a lot of dedication and patience. In our world, everything revolves around good communication. Timely language development ensures that your child will be able to communicate properly and express herself/himself freely. So every step that you take in this direction, will become a milestone in her / his life’s journey. So buckle up and get ready to empower your child with the language that you would love to speak to her/him.

Suggested reading: 7 compelling reasons to read with your children and Importance of Language Development in Early Childhood