Language Development Timeline

By karenturnmire

  • Birth - 18 months

    Vocalizes sounds
    Begins to respond to words spoken to them or around them
    THEN
    Understands and responds to and becomes interested in words spoken to them or around them
    Speaks simple words like mama or dada This early language development is crucial and important as it is the beginning of communication and understanding.

  • 18-36 months

    Child is able to form 3 to 4 word sentences
    Vocabulary is between 500-3000 words
    Pronouns are not understood and prepositions are just beginning to be comprehended Toddlers are absorbing information like sponges at this time, and language development and understanding of words and what they mean is increasing every day.

  • 3-6 years old

    Understanding language is ahead of speech development
    Vocabulary of 8000 to 14000 words. Children of this age can repeat a lot of words, but don't always understand what they are saying. They can answer many questions but do not understand how to communicate a sequence of an event.

  • 7-9 years old

    Logical thinking begins
    Can communicate well and can mimic adult speech patterns

  • 10-12 years old

    Can answer who what when where, but sometimes have difficulty with why questions.

  • 13-17 years old

    Teenagers can explain and understand cause and effect relationships. They can communicate and be understood quite well.

  • Language Development Timeline

  • 18-21 years old

    Language is fully developed now.