Speaking ‘Parentese’ Helps Baby’s Language Learning

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https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/study-speaking-parentese-helps-baby-s-language-learning/4764116.html


From what I gathered,they think mimicking a baby's babble and speaking baby language will slow down their language learning process. 

How realistic is this "parentese"

Kevwe A.

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#1
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I never heard of "parentese" before but I think this is true! As a parent, I made sure that I didn't "baby talk" to my kids when they were younger. I always spoke to them in complete sentences (even when I know they might not understand me), though in a slower pace, and I constantly repeated what I said especially when I was teaching them something like giving directions. And true enough, my two children were pretty advance speakers when they were young. Both of them were able to communicate clearly at age 2 compared to their peers. (They're 8 & 5 now and are very talkative! haha).

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#2
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Rose.Angelie wrote:

I never heard of "parentese" before but I think this is true! As a parent, I made sure that I didn't "baby talk" to my kids when they were younger. I always spoke to them in complete sentences (even when I know they might not understand me), though in a slower pace, and I constantly repeated what I said especially when I was teaching them something like giving directions. And true enough, my two children were pretty advance speakers when they were young. Both of them were able to communicate clearly at age 2 compared to their peers. (They're 8 & 5 now and are very talkative! haha).

I remember playing with my friend's baby and was mimicking baby sound. That's when she told me about speaking to your kids and how they catch up faster when spoken to in the way you would an adult.

I see the sense in it. Growing babies are picking up and learning new things everyday from their surrounding. So what they hear,they tend to assimilate. 

Kevwe A.

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#3
Posts1711Likes1133Joined18/3/2018LocationBellingham / US
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It's an interesting article. I wanted to point out thought that "Parentese" isn't exactly talking to children like they are adults:

Generally, parentese involves adults speaking in a higher voice and at a slower speed. The language is simplified, while sentences are short and often repeated. Studies from the past 30 years have confirmed that babies spoken to in parentese developed larger vocabularies throughout the first three years of life.

Learning Italian every day!

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#4
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Thanks Leo.

Of course it's absolutely normal to use simplified words for a growing baby. It's same for someone learning a new language, you don't go off learning the complex vocabs first.

As for the higher voice, I think it happens naturally. Anytime I'm speaking with a child,my voice pitch automatically goes up.

Kevwe A.

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Oghenekevwe wrote:
Of course it's absolutely normal to use simplified words for a growing baby. It's same for someone learning a new language, you don't go off learning the complex vocabs first.As for the higher voice, I think it happens naturally. Anytime I'm speaking with a child,my voice pitch automatically goes up.

Yeah, that makes sense. I've never had kids, but I would speak in higher voice to my pets, haha. It would be interesting to compare parentese to just normal adult speech, but there probably haven't been any studies on that.

Learning Italian every day!

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