What do babies learn before they are born? New tests have taken place to understand how unborn babies - called foetuses - learn language. It has been discovered that when babies are born they can already recognise familiar sounds and language patterns.
Rob and Finn discuss this research in 6 Minute English. They also talk about how babies develop an accent at a very young age.
This week's question:
According to a survey by the National Literacy Trust, which one of these words was discovered to be the most common first word for a baby to say - not including Mummy or Daddy?
a) dog
b) eat
c) bus
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Vocabulary
- foetuses
developing, unborn babies
- womb
place inside a woman's body where a baby grows before it is born
- communicate
speak or talk to other people
- bi-lingual
- fluent
- repetition
doing something again and again
- accent
way of saying words that shows what country, region, or social class someone comes from
- intonation
the way our voice goes up and down as we speak