Children acquire language quickly, easily, and with- out effort or formal teaching.
It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not. Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. Children acquire language through interaction - not only with their parents and other adults, but also with other children. All normal children who grow up in nor- mal households, surrounded by conversation, will acquire the language that is being used around them.