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A seventeen-month-old baby can say four or five words meaningfully. The baby also begins to voice more words in a way their mother can understand and understands what is said better. They gradually begin to follow very simple two-word instructions such as “bring the ball,” “close the door” and “throw this.”
At this age the most important factor affecting verbal and language development is the environmental and social setting. In a busy setting where people talk to the child often, speech and understanding will develop more strongly and quickly. By contrast, speech may be less advanced in children who are constantly in a quiet setting, are not spoken to much and spend most of the day in bed. To help the child speak more clearly, quickly and intelligibly, we should speak well with them as though they were an adult.
