How do speech sounds develop?

When children are learning to talk, they can sometimes be difficult to understand at first because of the ‘mistakes’ in their pronunciation - these ‘mistakes’ are very common. Younger children often change some of the sounds, so the words are easier to say. Typically, children's speech steadily improves so by the time they are 4 years they are clear and understood by everyone (although there may still be some sounds they find difficult to say).

 

Children develop some sounds earlier than others as these sounds are easier to say. As children develop their talking skills, they learn to say a wider range of sounds. Here are the sounds you can typically expect to hear at different ages: