Q
My little girl is 2 years old and hardly says a word. She is very happy but most of the time instead of words, she just points and grunts. Should I be concerned that she is not “talking” yet?

A
Although it is impossible to assess your child’s language level without seeing her, I can give you a brief overview of what type of vocabulary you should expect from a child her age.

By 10 to 12 months of age, your child should have said her first word. It probably didn’t sound perfect, but it was a word none the less. For example, some kids say “baba” for bottle. By 1 ½ years of age, children can usually say approximately 20 words. These words describe daily routines (e.g., “bath,” “car,” “bed,” etc.) or familiar people (e.g., “mommy,” daddy”). Also by about 18 months old, children begin to use “jargon” accompanied by gestures. Jargon sounds to many parents like a foreign language and usually consists of a connection of sounds that could almost be a sentence - you know the ones where people typically respond with a confused look and say, “Boy, you’re really trying to tell me something.” By two years of age, children are typically starting to combine 2 words such as “mommy sock” or “Riley up” and usually have a vocabulary of about 50 words.

Every child is different and these milestones are only approximate ages, but if you are concerned, I would go with your gut feeling and have your child assessed by a certified speech-language pathologist.

e-mail editor@tokyofamilies.com for a list of Speech-Language Therapists based in Tokyo.