"Even before babies are born, nature and nurture are at work preparing them with the tools for mastering language. Almost magically, in the first three years of life, they learn to recognize words, decipher their meanings, put together sentences, and ask questions. Written by two experts in the field of language development, How Babies Talk explores how babies learn language, and the concrete ways in which parents and caregivers can help nurture these linguistic skills at every stage of their children's development." "Organized chronologically, this comprehensive book begins with the unborn child, who can actually tell the difference between similar sounds, and continues with the newborn infant, who is already discovering methods of communication. By the age of four months, a baby has begun to accurately analyze speech for common sounds and patterns, and recognize his or her name. The baby between nine and twelve months is a master of gesture and of asking wordless questions. The nineteen-month-old who puts two words together for the first time paves the way for the two-and-a-half-year-old, who speaks in full, often breathless paragraphs." "Each chapter contains a section called "Language Milestones" that explores the amazing things babies know at each age, as well as their hidden capabilities and what parents can do to develop them. "Scientific Sleuthing Pays Off" describes how parents can use the latest scientific findings to enhance everyday interactions and to provide the most effective learning environments for their children. This section also helps parents identify the problems to look for that may hinder language development. There are also fun and easy at-home experiments called "Try This" that enable parents to chart their children's progress themselves and to further stimulate language-learning skills." "From the evolution of infant speech sounds to the toddler's mastery of complex grammar, How Babies Talk is an important guide that will help parents help their children develop the wonderful gift of language. Book jacket."--Jacket.