WHEN ARE SPEECH SOUNDS LEARNED?
Many children make errors when they pronounce words. Most children learn how to say all of the speech sounds correctly by the time they are eight years old. Some sounds are easier to say then other sounds. These are usually the sounds that children learn first. The following table shows the typical age range when children learn each sound.
3 Years
2 Years
p puppy, up
m mom, drum
h house
n no, man
w water
b baby, tub
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
k cookie, duck
g gum, dog
d daddy, bed
t toe, hat
ng singer, ring
f four, off
y yes
7 Years
8 Years
r red, bird, car
l lion, balloon, smell
s soap, bus
sh shoe, fish
ch chair, watch
z zoo, buzz
j jump
v van, love
th thumb, tooth
th the, mother
zh measure, beige
Speech Language Pathologists use the following milestones as a general guideline:
By age 3 years: p, m, h, n, w
By age 4 years: b, k, g, d, f, y
By age 6 years: t, ng, r, l
By age 7 years: ch, sh, j, th (thumb)
By age 8 years: s, z, v, th (the), zh