The ability to understand what is heard （receptive language） is still growing faster than speech （expressive language）. At 16 months, your toddler is using mostly single words. The bulk of these words are nouns, but she can use adjectives like "hot," verbs like "want" and "go" or even questions, such as "whadda?"

    Words represent thoughts and serve as actual sentences. "Car" may mean, "We're going for a ride". The first two-word sentences are pieced together with the words said together but not really connected, as "Boy. Run."

    You will observe that our toddler talks at least as much to herself as to other people. She may appear astonished when someone responds to this self-talk.

    Receptive language is learned mainly in the home--in a context of feelings and actions which coincide with objects, people, and their gestures.

    When Daddy says, "Come here," he holds out his arms to receive your child. When you say "Give it to me," you reach out to accept the object. When you hold the cup to your toddler's lips, you say, "Drink your milk."

    In other words, your toddler's receptive language is the product of simple associations which have been going on since she was about six months old.

    Imitation plays a big role in the life of your toddler. She uses it for learning new words. You say, "See the monkey," and your toddler echoes the word "monkey." Or your toddler points to an object and you or your husband supply its name.

    There is a snowballing effect in learning language--the more a child is able to speak, the more she learns to speak. Once your toddler discovers this power of speech, she has a new style of behaving and dealing with her world. She demonstrates this mastery by manipulating the adults in her life. And they generally love it!

    孩子听力（接受性语言能力）的发展要比话语能力（表达性语言能力）快一些。16个月的宝宝大多只能说一个词的语言，并以名词为主，但也能表达某些形容词如hot（热）及某些动词如want（要）和go（去）,甚至还能提问，如whadda?（什么？--儿语）

    词汇既可代表思想，也可当作真正的句子来使用。（例如，）单词car可能包含"开车去兜风"之意。一开始可用只含两个词的句子，即把两个词放在一起说，但并不真正联结起来，如说"boy,run"（孩子，跑）.

    你只要观察一下就可发现：娃娃自言自语并不比跟别人说话少。如果有人对宝宝的自言自语作出回答，孩子会显出很吃惊的样子。

    接受性语言主要是在家里学的，这是一个充满感情色彩的语言环境，也包含很多与物品、人物及其身体语言相一致的动作。

    当爸爸说"Come here"（过来一下）时，他一定会张开双臂，准备把宝宝报起来。你说"Give it to me"（给我）时，也会伸出手去接你要的东西。如果你把杯子递到孩子嘴边，你还会说"Drink your milk"（喝奶吧）.

    换句话说，接受性语言就是一种简单的关联过程（即语言与动作、表情等的关联）的产物。孩子从大约6个月大开始，就一直在不断地接触接受性语言的训练了。

    模仿在宝宝的生活中起着重要作用，孩子可通过模仿而掌握新词。如果你说"See the monkey"（看看这只猴子）,那么孩子会跟着说monkey.或者当孩子指着某物时，你或孩子的爸爸要及时说出该物品的名称。

    学习语言的过程有滚雪球效用：孩子说的越多就越能说。而一旦宝宝发现语言的这种作用，孩子在自己的世界里所表现出来的行为以及应对周围事物的方式也会不断发生变化。在日常生活中，孩子还会通过大人去掌握周围事物，这往往是很多孩子乐意做的事情。