Question
My child is already 20 months old, but their language development seems slow, they only know a few words, and they are unwilling to learn to speak. However, they have a good ability to imitate actions. Is this normal?
Answer
The rate of language development in children varies from individual to individual and is influenced by many factors, including genetics, hearing, environmental education, and intelligence. Generally, babies start saying single words around 9 months old, speak two to three-word phrases at 1 year, can express meaningful words or simple sentences at 18 months, and use pronouns like ‘I’ and ‘you’ around 2 years old. If you are concerned about your child’s language development, you can encourage them to pronounce through simple language games and observe their progress.