When do most children start speaking their first words?

• A. Around 6 months
• B. Around 9 months
• C. Around 18 months
• D. Around 12 months

Answer: (D)

Language development follows a predictable sequence in the first year: babies move from cooing and babbling to producing their first recognizable words around their first birthday. By about 12 months, many children say one or more simple words with clear meaning, such as “mama” or “dada,” though they still rely on gesture and context to convey messages. Before this milestone, at around 6 months, you’re mainly hearing cooing and early babbling; by around 9 months, babbling becomes more complex but isn’t yet real words. By about 18 months, expressive vocabulary has typically grown further and children may start combining words, but the initial first words almost always appear near 12 months. So, the best answer is around 12 months.