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Show Real Baby Talk Most babies learn to talk by imitating the words of older children or grownups with whom they come in daily contact. Rut they make up a language of their own if left to themselves, them-selves, declares the superintendent of the Haen and Prison Gate Mission-in Toronto. That charitable organization takes care of 40 or 50 infants, in-fants, many of whom stay there some time before they go out into adoptive homes. With so many babies on hand, all about the same age ."there is little opportunity for the nurse in charge or any of tlie social workers to devote individual attention to teaching them to talk. Even youngsters who remain in the mission until they are four or five years old receive no special training in speech from the adults taking care of them. It was a bright child named Rosie who first attracted the superintendent's attention to the fact that these babies talked to each other and that sounds which seemed gibberish to the adults really meant something to the children. Rosie obviously understood the baby talk. One day the superintendent laughingly asked Rosie if she could tell what the babies were saying. To everyone's surprise Rosie interpreted the baby language into intelligent English. |