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Baby’s language skills begin to develop even before he is born. The word and sounds that he hears while inside the womb plays an important role in language learning of the baby. It is due to this sense that babies:
- Babies can understand that someone is speaking a foreign language and differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar sounds. This ability helps the baby to learn and understand spoken languages later.
- Classic music is a favorite with young babies because they have smooth rhythmic melodies and pauses between sections. However, one year olds, prefer traditional tunes for kids and start differentiating sounds that are similar.
- Gradually, babies start associating sounds with the experiences and give them a meaning. Thus, lullabies and white noise may soothe a baby; loud sounds may startle him while pleasant music may make him happy. Babies may also associate banging of door with arrival of parents or sounds of crying and wailing with something hurtful.
- Love swishing and whooshing sounds that are similar to the sounds that babies are used to in the womb such as heartbeat of the mother and sounds of blood flow.
- Recognize their mom’s voice right from the time they are born and can differentiate it from the voices of other women and get comforted by it sooner.
- Younger babies do not have their sense of hearing so well developed and they can hear high pitched sounds better. Thus, they respond better to cooing and baby talk and especially, feminine voices.