Although most children begin to have meaningful words such as saying 'dada' when seeing daddy at one year old, it's also common that a one year old still babbles. Children do vary a lot in the age of having their first word. It may be a normal transitional stage for children not speaking yet. It may also be related to a child's cognitive development including language development, problem in hearing, oral and vocal structure problem, as well as inadequate language environment. But before children learn to express themselves in speech, they have to understand words. So if children are socially responsive, understand simple words, follow simple instructions and use gestures such as pointing to communicate their needs, there's no need to cause alarm if they speak only single words before two years old. However, if children are unresponsive to people, cannot follow simple instructions with gestural cues such as 'give me' by age one, or suspected to have hearing or other developmental problems, you'd better discuss with your doctor or other child experts.

There're so many VCD learning packs available. Can they help my child talk?

Being able to spend quality time with your child is essential in helping him to talk. Specific tools and aids are not necessary. Audiovisual resources like VCDs and TV shows do provide attractive visual images to hold children's attention and rich ideas for parents to talk with their children. However, they only provide a one-way delivery of messages instead of interactive communication. To make the best use of these resources, choose those that are appropriate to your child's developmental level. Watch together and talk along with your child. Guide him to understand the content of the show and learn his ideas about it. More important is to make use of everyday opportunities to describe to your child what you see and what you're doing. Take into consideration your child's level of understanding and use clear and concise words. You may talk with him while playing with him. Don't urge the child to talk to you as this will make talking a task instead of fun. However, when he attempts to talk to you, even though he may not have pronounced it correctly or the grammar may not be correct, do praise his effort to facilitate his motivation to communicate. Interact with your child in a calm and pleasant mood. Be responsive to him. Get psychologically and physically involved in playing and talking with your child.

I have another 3- year-old child. She can talk in short sentences but her speech is not clear. I'm worried that she'll be teased by her peers.

Some mispronunciation is a normal transient phenomenon in children's language development. Usually, with maturation, children can have clear speech like an adult by 5 to 6 years of age. Don't shame your child as it will only discourage her to talk. Try to understand what she wants to say and find chances to say the words correctly to her. Don't urge her to repeat after you as it will only destroy the fun and turn talking into a task. If you have difficulty in understanding your child by age four, do seek medical advice.