Such studies show that,up to about six months of age,babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world."Their ability to do that shows that (babies)
are prepared to learn any language,"Kuhl says. "That's why we call them citizens of the world."
About 6,000 sounds make up the languages spoken around the globe,but not every language uses every sound.For example,While the Swedish language distinguishes among 16 vowel sounds.English uses only eight vowel sounds,and Japanese uses just five.Adults can hear only the sounds uses in the languages they speak fluently.To a native Japanese speaker,for instance,the letters "R" and "L" sound identical.So,unlike someone whose native language is English,a Japanese speaker cannot tell "row" from "low" or "rake" from "lake"
Starting at around six months old,Kuhl says,a baby's brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears.Then,children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most.In a similar way,Gomez has found,slightly older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language.In Engish,for example,kids who are about 18 months old start to figure out that word ending in "-ing" or "-ed" are usually verbs,and that verbs are action words.