You want your child to grow a large vocabulary and excel in language. You want them to thrive in their reading ability, school life, and relationships with friends and family — all of which are directly influenced by language skills. Simply speaking around your young child is a great place to start, but there's much more that you can do. Follow these five simple, smart strategies to help your child’s language skills flourish, whether they’re learning their native language or another language.

Today’s experts are Diane Paul, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, the director of clinical issues in speech-language pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and Veronica Davis-Quiroz, a former foreign language teacher.

For more information on language development, visit www.identifythesigns.org and www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart/.

Malty the Blue Tiger bilingual books easily teach kids language skills and celebrate every unique voice. Pick up your copy on Amazon today (available in English and Spanish or English and French), and consider supporting this podcast so we can continue these important conversations about speech and language!