Baby Talk
Is baby talk bad for the speech development of kids? I have been reading about the perils of baby talking. It is cute to see children speaking cute words and I have to admit that I am one of those who get really amused at the language of my kids when they were still learning to talk.
My youngest Nicky is 3 years old now and he has outgrown his “unique” naming of things. He used to call water, ma-mam and milk ta-ta. Unconsciously, I assimilated his vocabulary and talked to him with his own words for things. I am a-ma and his daddy a-da. I just found myself calling my husband Ah-dah. Nicky had different name for his blanket (bup-bup), his stuff toy that he always hugs while sleeping (yep) and his stomach (ahmee).
I wasn’t worried about all the things they said against baby talk. I talked to Nicky using his own vocabulary and I didn’t really find anything wrong with that. That’s how he started communicating to me. But as he grew older, I taught him the real names of the things around him. I didn’t want him to attend pre-school and have his own language.
I think in my own experience baby talk is not a bad thing. It is a way to encourage babies who are just learning to speak to communicate with you. Babies respond more when you talk to them using their own vocabulary. It is also a way to interact with them.
But as the baby grows up and his or her mind develops then just make the adjustments to his or her language. Children today are very intelligent. They grasp things very easily. They develop their skills very quickly.
Now that my son is going to pre-school, I talk to him with ordinary adult language and the right names for things. He has learned to talk that way also in a short time. In as far as my experience is concerned; baby talking had not significant bad effects to my son.