Why you need to switch from infant-speak to ‘parentese’ if you want your tot to learn language faster

Can you smile for mama, nana ? Yes, you c-a-a-a-n. Yes, you c-a-a-a-n. What a clever girl you are! Such a clever girl! “Who’s a clever girl? Yes, you’re a clever girl!”

If that’s the way you speak to your baby, consider yourself fluent in parentese and give yourself a pat on the back. Parentese is the language of speaking to babies – a method of using exaggeration, repetition and high-pitched delivery to communicate with your little ones. It involves using real words instead of the goo-goo-ga-ga version of infant-speak – and according to a new scientific study, it’s the best thing you can do to aid the development of your baby’s vocabulary.

Read more | Joburg mom on how she’s handling the COVID-19 school closure: “I’m sending my kids to the village in Eastern Cape”