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Language learning may begin before birth

Newborn babies can tell native from foreign vowel sounds

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Babies may start to learn their mother tongues even before seeing their mothers’ faces. Newborns react differently to native and foreign vowel sounds, suggesting that language learning begins in the womb, researchers say.

SUCKER FOR VOWELS A Swedish newborn takes part in an experiment in which rates of pacifier sucking indicated that babies can tell some native speech sounds from foreign ones within hours of birth.