Babies learn from us by copying us,

寶寶透過模仿我們來學習，

so the best thing is to teach your baby to speak how you want your baby to speak.

所以最好就是教你的寶寶你想要他怎麼說話

I don't believe in speaking to a baby in baby talk, because you don't want your baby growing

我不認為應該用兒語和寶寶說話，因為你不會想要你的寶寶說著兒語長大

up speaking baby talk. Of course, you can be affectionate and cuddle your baby, but

當然，你可以深愛並擁抱你的寶寶，但是，

you should speak to your baby just like you would speak to your friends or another child.

就像你跟朋友或別的孩子說話一樣，你應該這樣跟你的寶寶說話

Babies will mimic anything that we do if we do it slowly and properly.

如果我們緩慢且適當地說，寶寶會模仿任何我們說出來的話

So, if you want to teach your baby certain words, when you hold the bottle say bottle.

因此，如果你想教你的寶寶特定字詞，當你拿著瓶子時說瓶子

But if you're going to hold the bottle and say bah bah, you're baby's always going to

但如果你拿著瓶子說瓶瓶，你的寶寶將會一直說瓶瓶

say bah bah. Your baby will never learn that it's called a bottle, because you've always

他將不會學到那個東西叫做瓶子，因為你總是叫它瓶瓶

called it a bah bah. If you want your baby to call you momma, say momma. If you want

如果你想要你的寶寶叫你媽媽，就教他說媽媽，如果你想要你的寶寶叫你爸爸，就教他說爸爸

your baby to call you dada, say dada. But don't expect a baby to learn a new word if

然而，別期待你的寶寶學習一個

it wasn't spoken to them.

從沒對他們說過的新字詞

I often find medical students who come and round with me in the hospital speak baby talk

在醫院我常常發現身邊醫學專業的學生用兒語跟所有的寶寶說話

to all the babies because they think that the babies will like them more if they speak

因為他們認為那樣寶寶會更加喜歡他們

baby talk. Babies will like you if you're affectionate and if you're warm. You don't

寶寶會因為你親切溫暖而喜歡你

have to speak baby talk to get your baby to speak.

你不必為了讓你的寶寶說話而對他們說兒語

Babies should start making sounds at four months of age. At six months of age they should

寶寶應該在四個月時開始發出一些聲音，在六個月時應該能發出更多子音和母音。

make more consonant and more vowel sounds. Babies often have their first word, like hi

寶寶在九個月時能說出他們的第一個字詞，像是嗨或是爸爸。

or dada, at nine months of age. But some babies don't have their first word until one year,

但是有些寶寶大概在一歲後才能說出第一個字

and that's fine.

那也沒有關係。

Babies who hear two or three languages at home may have some speech delay, and this

在家中聽到二至三種語言的寶寶可能在語言的發展有些遲緩，這是可以的。

is OK. Make sure you bring it to your pediatrician's attention, because we want to make sure that

確定要讓你的醫生注意到這件事情，

those babies can hear well if you think that they have speech delay, and that too many

因為如果你認為他們有語言發展遲緩的情況，我們要確認那些寶寶是否聽力正常，

languages are not confusing them. We have some patients whose parents each speak a different

而且太多的語言並不會混淆他們。我們有些父母分別說不同語言，而且褓姆說第三種語言的病人。

language, then they have a babysitter that speaks a third language. For these babies

對這些寶寶來說，

it's often confusing, which language do I choose to speak.

要選擇說哪一個語言是時常混淆的。

I'm not saying not to introduce foreign languages. Foreign languages are wonderful for babies,

我並不是說不加入外語。外語對寶寶是非常好的。

and babies learn languages better when they hear them younger. Just know that it might

而且寶寶在小一點的時候聽到能夠學得更好。只需要了解到這可能會牽涉到

involve some speech delay.

一些語言發展的遲緩。