Q: My child is 2 years and 4 months old but he is unable to form sentences and has a limited locabulary. Is this a cause of concern. If yes, what can be done in such cases.

A:To begin with, reassurance. It is not a cause for concern if a child of 2yrs and 4 mths does not speak in full sentences.Most children in the agerange 18 months to 30 months use what we call telegraphic language , like Milk all gone or Baby hungry or the equivalents in the mother tongue.Sometimes, when children are exposed to more than one language in the home,they understand what is spoken, but may be slower in speaking, since eachlanguage is different. But they learn to cope with all the languages by thetime they are 3 or 4.It would be good for the childs language development, if the parents andothers in the family and neighbourhood, spoke to the child, listened to himor her, told stories, sang songs and so on. Reading out a simple story inthe childs mother tongue, from a book with pictures in it, would be anenjoyable everyday activity. Children should be allowed to play with eachother. They pick up so much from other children.The parents can make up games where the child has to ask for something byits name and so on. But dont worry about teaching the child to speak:rather provide a setting where the child can play happily.