Grammar
When we hear the word "grammar", we immediately remember some classes in school, right? But grammar isn't just a class we take. Grammar is in our every word we combine together whenever we speak.... every time we speak! We don't even think about it. It just comes out of our mouths naturally and effortlessly, and you've probably never thought of it. Grammar or syntax is an essential part of languages. It's the structure of a language, how it's built, its order. That structure can be a short one or a longer, more complex one. When did we all learn how to speak in an ordered structure? When did our brains learn to put certain words in a certain place in the sentences we make? We all learned the "rules" unconsciously when we were babies. Our linguistic map is formed in our brains at around 7 months of age. So little! It's been with us for ever.
As parents, we might wonder and ask ourselves "am I using the right grammar when I speak to my baby?", "should we be speaking to our babies with simple sentences or with complicated ones?", "should we be using just one or two words?", "should I speak the way I always do?". We want our babies to understand us, so the answers are.... it depends. It depends on their age and on how you want to approach language in different instances. It also depends on what you want your child to learn. Remember, you are, as their parent or caretaker, the 1st example your baby sees and copies.
My BabyLingua loves language structure! You will be coached in understanding the ways to use grammar when talking to your baby. Let's bring those school classes back to life.
"In the first three years, infants and toddlers begin acquiring the first of thousands of words they will use throughout their lives. Simultaneously, children are learning the rules of grammar as well as absorbing the social conventions that exist around communication in their community." Im, J., Osborn, C., Sánchez, S. and Thorp, E. (in press)