First Words During Infancy and Toddlerhood: Part 2

Early language development begins with receptive vocabulary—the words understood before speaking begins.

By 18 months, children understand about 150 words and can say around 50 words.

Children with larger vocabularies and quicker reaction times can often recognize words by their initial sounds.

For example, when hearing "daw," they may point to a picture of a dog.

Next, expressive vocabulary, or the words toddlers can say, grows gradually as they learn new words.

By 16 to 24 months, a "naming explosion" occurs, during which vocabulary rapidly increases from about 50 words to several hundred.

This vocabulary growth reflects faster and more accurate word recognition during the second year.

Children also use their growing understanding of syntax to figure out word meanings.

Nouns are easier to learn because forming mental images of them is simpler.

On the other hand, verbs are more difficult to learn because they often represent transitory actions and require sustained attention.

Once children understand syntax, they can recognize sentence structures like "I'm VERBing it," which helps them learn new verbs.