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34 - 36 months

How well should my three-year-old be able to talk?

14 May 2020 | By Anna-Bet Stemmet

The ability to speak and make themselves understood is an important developmental milestone for any child. But how well should they be able to talk by age three? Here’s some expert input on the matter. 

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Speech benchmarks for a three-year-old

According to Essie de Jager, a trained early-childhood teaching professional at Tjokkertuin Childcare Centre in Malmesbury, advises that children fall on a spectrum when it comes to speech- and language acquisition, but that there are certain benchmarks that parents can look out for around the age for three. 

“On average, a healthy, well-adapted three-year-old has around 1000 words in their vocabulary. They should be able to call themselves and others by name, form plurals, ask basic questions (e.g. ‘my ball?’), repeat a story or nursery rhyme (not perfectly, but attempting to at least) and use a variety of nouns, adjectives and verbs to form sentences of about three to four words.

“At this age, education professionals at early childhood development centres such as Tjokkertuin will start to introduce spatial concepts like 'in' or 'on', pronouns like 'you', 'me', 'him', 'her', and descriptive words like 'small', 'sunny' and 'happy',” explains Essie. 

Not everyone will be able to understand your toddler

“At three years old, not everyone is likely to understand what your toddler is saying. However, parents, teachers and caregivers who see and interact with them regularly should be able to puzzle it out at least. If you’re finding it hard to understand your three-year-old yourself, they don’t know at least 200 words or they are unable to use words they previously knew, this may be some cause for concern,” explains Essie. 

However, this does not mean going into a blind panic! “If you’re concerned about your child’s speech abilities, start by checking in with their teacher – if they feel everything is on track, I’d recommend waiting it out and seeing how it goes. Remember, speech is a behaviour that is learned out of necessity, so the issue could very well be that you understand your child’s needs and cues so well that they never actually need to ask for anything or make themselves understood.

If your child wants something (juice, food, to be picked up), make a point of instructing them to ask for it in so many words. This can make a big difference in the long run,” advises Essie.

There is a difference between language and speech

“It’s also important that parents understand that there is a difference between language delays and speech delays. A speech delay refers to difficulty in making certain sounds (d, l, r, or s, for instance). This may mean that your child's timetable is a little different to their contemporaries' and they’ll catch up. Or there might be an issue with their tongue or palate, such as a tongue-tie, which you can have checked by a nurse or doctor,” Essie explains. 

“A language delay involves understanding and communicating. A toddler with a language delay may make the correct sounds and pronounce some words, but they can’t form phrases or sentences that make sense. This is when you might seek out the assistance of a speech- or occupational therapist.”
 

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