How to Teach Children To Speak Clearly
It has been said that children are the future. Many children may learn from behavior of the people that are around them most. They might copy our actions and reactions, our speech and pronunciations of words.
Instructions
Speak clearly when talking to a child or children. The way we say a word is the way the child may attempt to say the word. Often times we hear toddlers speaking gibberish, perhaps that is the way they were taught to pronounce their words. Do not use slang. Slang may be a fun way or a lazy way to talk, but this may confuse a small child. An example of what I am referring to is, "What cha doin?" If a kid that is just learning to speak hears this they may repeat it only to come out sounding like this, "whacha doitin?" If you visualize those words coming out of a two year olds mouth you might agree it is likely to not make much sense. Do not use profanity. Hearing a small child say a swear word may make us smirk in our own homes, but in a public situation, like preschool, hearing a foul word pour from their tiny lips may be very embarrassing. It may even make you feel like a bad parent. So if you must use profanity do it when the children are not present. Refrain from using baby talk. "Ba Ba, Da Da, get the cuppy" are all examples of baby talk. Kids that hear these words may use them while talking with other people. Which may make a small child's words sound even more distorted than usual. I have never used baby talk and my first born' s first sentence was, "Where's my bottle?" She said that at 10 months old and we knew exactly what she wanted. It was clear and free of gibberish that we might not have otherwise understood.
