As your child progresses from infancy through school-age, you will hear your child's teachers place a great deal of emphasis on language skills.
Language really starts to develop at birth, as soon as the infant can hear.
If you watch a newborn infant and his mother interact, you can see how intently the baby is focusing on the mother's face, watching her expressions and listening to her voice. The infant soon is trying to make the same voice sounds that he hears. We call this cooing and gurgling, but it is actually the beginning of speech development. These sounds are the foundation of words. The infant will respond to the sound of happy words and tones with smiles, and to angry voices by looking upset.