It’s quite humorous to think adults teach the child how to talk and quite fascinating to understand how much that is far from the truth. Facilitate by modelling absolutely; but it is the child who teaches him or herself how to talk with an effort and conviction that is most admirable.

We know that the first step to reading is listening and then speaking;

“the number of words which a child understands is greater than the number of words which he uses to express himself.” Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child, p.29

This is quite often the case for most adults at times; beautifully captured by the phrases “I’m lost for words” or “words simply escape me”.  Most adults have a plethora of words stored in our minds and an even greater number of thoughts which are often quite a challenge to express effectively in the way we want them to. It is the same for the child who is learning to talk.  What is interesting is that a child’s speech development begins with several small acquisitions in between lengthy bouts of listening and then, all of a sudden, an almighty burst of language after that;

“At about six months… pronouncing syllables… ma ma ma… At the age of one year… first real spoken word… eighteenth months… the child seems to have discovered that everything about him has a name… 21 months… the explosion of all kinds of words are used, nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives or adverbs… Within a few months after… there is a similar explosion of sentences… This crescendo of linguistic victories brings the child to about two and a half years of age.” Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child, p.29-30

Within two to three years a child, who had no clue of how to speak, does so with grammar and intonation in tact. But how? This natural process is one that most children experience no matter what culture or financial status their family have. It is a universal right of passage. Not only does the child master the language in her mind but she also masters the physical ability to pronounce words with her mouth. Not only does the child delineate all the sounds they hear from their environment with the sounds used to communicate; they organise these sounds accordingly so that they may be understood;

“… there is the process of taking impressions of speech through the eyes… a mysterious urge making the child go through these processes in their rational sequences and focussing his special attention, spontaneously, on the mastery of the sounds… Yet when the children begin to make the first sounds, they do not reproduce the sounds of the cow or of the buffalo… the normal child speaks the home language grammatically and obeys the rules of syntax. Even prefixes and suffixes… The child is capable of the tremendous efforts involved in mastering a language in such a short period of time…” Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child, p.30-31

The synthesis between the receptive centre of the brain; that which records the spoken word and the motor centre of the brain; that which is in operation when we speak is a great feat let alone when we comprehend that the child is still in the mode of creating himself, of building his physical, mental and spiritual self up. Is this why the acquisition of language is swifter? Nothing there to impede the mind except the vast possibilities of everything to build upon?

“The child is endowed with a mental power which is different from ours… because he is in a creative state and the adult has passed that state.”
Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child, p.33

“those centres in the brain are designed for language… this whole mechanism responds only to the spoken word… If this special isolation of these centres had not taken place… the child on a farm… would bleat… the child born close to a railway would reproduce the whistling and puffing of trains.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p47-48

What exactly is happening in the mind of a child when learning to speak? This lengthy bout of listening, where most adults chatter away day in and day out is not unnoticed by the child. This intense time of studying every aspect of the spoken word by those around her literally forms the understanding of how to use language to communicate;

“Mechanism for language… begins deep in the darkness of the subconscious, is developed and fixed there, then only is seen openly… the child seems at a standstill with a few words for a long time but in the inner life there is a continuous and great progress… , resulting suddenly in… an explosive phenomenon… a cataract of words, all pronounced perfectly ” Montessori, Education for a New World, p.46

As adults we often find the child’s attempts at speaking cute or funny; we laugh, praise and celebrate these efforts meanwhile this is serious business for the child!

“See with what intensity a baby watches the lips.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p48

“This treasure which has been prepared by the subconscious is handed over to the consciousness, and the child makes full use of his new power, chattering incessantly and irrepressibly.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p.47

It is because we do not fully understand that which is occurring in the mind of the child during the acquisition of language why we must respect the process fully by speaking properly to the child. Baby talk from adults interferes with the child’s ability to achieve the mastery of the language which he is studying as intensely as one completing their PHD. If the only thing we can do as adults to assist this acquisition is to model how the language is to be spoken, this must be taken seriously. We should also try our best to never ridicule or quieten the child who is practising how to speak. The effects of doing so may be life long;

“The child of one or two years may have something to tell that he feels to be very necessary, and be unable to find the word he wants, so he becomes agitated… Rage is the only expression open to him if the right means are lacking… Largely owing to adult misunderstanding, agitation forms an integral part of the life of children. The fact is that there is an inner wealth which tries to find expression, and can only do so amid great difficulties.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p49-50

The erroneous saying that children should be seen and not heard is an absolute insult and obliterating obstruction to a process that we have no idea of. Such offenses may lead to stuttering being adopted or worse yet, delays in speech occurring;

“Many senseless fears and nervous habits to be found in adults are now traced back to some violence to the child’s sensitivity.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p51

What we do know is that all parents want to hear their child’s first words, all educators want a child who is able to communicate confidently and understand language efficiently enough to pass assessments and examinations. We all want a future generation that can express themselves freely and comport themselves linguistically in a manner that is influential, clear, concise, poetic, artistic etc.

What we do not know is how the child, whose words we so eagerly wait to hear, mysteriously and magnificently curates the spoken language so succinctly within the first three years of life;

“In those mysterious places of the brain is a god, a sleeping self, who seems to be awakened by… a divine call, setting fibres in vibration… in the depths of the unconscious he has understood, and in the heights of consciousness he has created language.” Montessori, Education for a New World, p48-49

One of the most vital actions we can take to facilitate this has been stated above; respect the child’s internal growth and speak ever so clearly so that the child may be able to overcome the natural challenges already existing and acquire language without any difficulties presented by the unaware adult.  The mystery of language acquisition may never be truly captured or understood no matter how advanced science or technology appear to get. The mystery lies in nature and nature is all anything and everything is modelled upon. This magical ability the young child has to master language is one that is lost upon the adult. We must therefore, resist the urge to control it and do everything in our power to respect and facilitate the process;

“Spontaneous acquisition is the characteristics of childhood.” Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child, p.35