Teaching the "L" sound to a toddler?

Question

My niece just turned 2, and she is talking in complete sentences, up to 8-10 words long. ("I want you to take my shoes off please!") She is very good with figuring out tenses, pronouns and sentence structure, and her ability to communicate well has made her somewhat lazy, since she is very clear with most of her ideas.

My sister and I are having trouble getting her to say the "L" sound, and don't want her to develop bad habits since she seems to be talking very well, very early. If we exaggerate the "L" with our tongues too much, she exaggerates too, sticking her tongue out and falling over the rest of the word.

Is it a matter of just stopping and correcting her with every "L" until she gets it right, even if it's exaggerated? Are there any songs (other than Deck the Halls) that have a good "L" sound for her to practice with, so she can have fun practicing without getting frustrated? Thanks in advance for the help!

Thanks for the advice, everyone! We've been so amazed about how good she is at talking but thought that she would develop bad habits if we didn't correct her, but it's good to hear that it's just something that takes a while.

Answer 1

Whatever you do, don't stop and correct her every time she says an 'L' sound. She'll just get uptight about it and could really run into problems!
For the most part, I'd leave her alone to learn the sound just as she has learnt all the others.
However, if you are really worried, try the occasional game - perhaps mimicking things you say and include a number of words with 'l' in them - maybe using hand puppets. Also, a 'singing' game - with lots of la la la's for the tune.
But please don't overdo this!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

The "L" sound is one of the last sounds that a toddler will master. My granddaughter is almost 4 and still uses a "w" sound as a substitution. Developmentally, her oral muscles aren't as developed as yours which is why she can't make the sound. If she just turned 2 and is talking in full sentences, I think you have very little to worry about and eventually she will be able to control her muscles to mimic the sound. Just enjoy the funny ways she says things now. She'll mature in time and the less pressure on her the better.
Jane

Answer 4

My son who is 3 1/2 and was also an early talker still has trouble with his L's but we've never pushed the issue until recently. When she mispronounces the L I would just say the word correctly, without emphasizing the L. She is still young and I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Answer 5

Speech sounds appear at different times development. The mouth movement, tongue placement and breath pattern to make speech sound is part of maturation. The L sound is not an expected sound at her age, not usually mastered till 30 to 34 months of age. It causes no problems to emphasise the sound, but I would not recommend pushing her to correct. From all you have said she is very bright, and has every opportunity to learn the sound. Simple give her time.

Answer 6

My recommendation is to back off; she'll come around, especially since she's so good at the other sounds. The "L" sound is rarely mature before 4 years of age; that's why she's frustrated.

Answer 7

Her skills are remarkable. DO NOT correct her. My son couldn't say L for a while, and we got some really cute expressions out of it. "The kitty needs Yots of Yoving."
Sesame Streeets Ernie had a song he did with L words, just chanting really. Totally silly words with no association. la la la la lamppost. lalalala lemon drop. lalalala licorice stick. Look around for L words and set them to music. But she'll be fine, just give her a few months.

Answer 8

i haven't been on your footwear with speech delays, yet my son did have a gross motor skills delay and wasn't strolling at 18 months. My husband and that i've got been at our wits end attempting to assist him, we talked to the wellbeing practitioner at his 18 months examine up, he observed he had complication along with his suitable leg and sent him to a actual therapist. along with her help and suggestion, he replaced into strolling interior each week. Now a pair months later he's purely seeing her as quickly as a month and all and sundry is taken aback with the form he has made, and he has stopped dragging his foot and walks thoroughly oftentimes-you will possibly in no way think of he replaced into crawlign at purely approximately 19 mos. So, i might strongly propose seeing a speech therapist. on a similar time as i don't think of a 2 365 days old who does not talk plenty is extremely unusual, they're an authority who can inform you if he's purely taking his time and help flow him alongside if he does choose help. i replaced into such as you, attempting to do each thing i'd desire to and going loopy with the internet, books, etc., yet then user-friendly suggestion from somebody who knew their stuff made a international of distinction. stable success! ETA: maximum babies who've speech delays(or any delays) have not got autism, so if he in any different case interacts oftentimes i does not complication on that one absent different crimson flags-my nephew replaced into purely approximately 4 while he talked and he's the main social toddler contained in the international!

Answer 9

Don't worry about her L sound...my daughter's th's were f sounds.

She would count to 20 like this...
one
two
free
four.....
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
firteen
fourteen
etc...it was cute because it sounded like she said 14 twice!

I tried correcting her but it only made her frustrated and confused...enjoy the cutesy little talk...it will go away on its own.

Answer 10

If you took her to a speech therapist, they would teach her by having her stick her tongue out to make the "L" sound.
Don't worry about correcting her. She'll get the hang of it eventually. In the meantime you can make up silly songs that use L's a lot. Like, maybe about blue and yellow balloons. In fact, if you just sing 'yellow and blue balloons' over and over again she'll think it's a song.

**Ever hear a two year old say 'dump truck'? Ha Ha!