We have for a long time known that babies come into the world knowing the voice of their mothers and those closest to them. It was always a great excuse for me to read to my babies while they where still in my womb, even if what I was reading was not a children’s book. When they where small I would often read to them what ever I happen to be reading at the time as it always seemed to interest them. I thought they just loved and found comfort in my voice, I had no idea they where already so soon learning language.
A new Study is showing us some very interesting things. “This is the first study that shows fetuses learn prenatally about the particular speech sounds of a mother’s language,” said Christine Moon, lead author and a professor of psychology at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.
The results will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica for anyone wanting to get more details on the study itself. We don’t have to wait though to see some of the testing they have been doing. I have to say it is so very adorable and I have watched this short video more than a few times already:
The video shows a newborn with little head phones on and a pacifier that is connected to a computer. The researches tested babies in two different countries with their native language and the language of the other country. When ever the baby sucks on the pacifier a computer plays a vowel sound for them, if the baby keeps sucking after that sound over and over, it was an indication the baby was interested in the sound. After the baby stopped sucking for a moment and continued again a different sound was played. The researchers came to find that babies sucked more when listening to vowels in the language that they heard in the womb, the language their mothers spoke.
We have known for a while now that babies start learning languages after birth and it could be measured in the first month. Now we know a baby starts learning even sooner than birth.
So read to your babies while you are still pregnant! They can hear you at around 30 weeks. Of course they can feel your vibrations and energy long before that and reading is just such a wonderful thing anyway. It doesn’t have to be baby books either. Read what you love!
That is too cool! I love science. <3
My son is now 7 months old, and I often wondered exactly what her heard in my womb.
this is incredible how they learn while in the womb.
Nothing like the mother/ baby bond. Wonderful to know the bond begins with the voice way before birth!
I always spoke to my daughter while in the womb and she would tighten my belly when i would sing!
Wow! this is amazing! I knew babies could hear us while in the womb!