Not long ago, many people believed that babies only wanted food and to be kept warm and dry. Some people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old.

    不久以前，很多人都以为婴儿只会索取食物，或者只要穿着保暖又干爽的衣服就好了。 有些人觉得，婴儿要长到五六个月大的时候才具备学习认知能力。

    Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is a federal government agency. Its goal is to identify which experiences can influence healthy development in people.

    然而，美国的医生指出，从生下来的那一刻开始婴儿便具备学习能力了。 负责研究儿童健康与人类发展的“尤尼斯·肯尼迪·施赖弗国家研究所”是一家联邦制的政府机构。 该机构的主要研究的项目是找出会影响人们健康发展的生活经验。

    Researchers at the institute note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other people.

    该研究所的研究人员提到，环境对婴儿的影响很大。 他们表示，如果婴儿的妈妈对他们做了一些他们很喜欢的事情，他们就会露出笑容。 所以，婴儿会通过笑容来取悦他们的妈妈或者其他护理者，以致于尽可能地得到最好的照顾。 这就是婴儿们学着与别人交流的方式之一。

  The researchers say this ability to learn exists in a baby even before birth. They say newborn babies can recognize and understand sounds they heard while they were still developing inside their mothers.

    研究员还提到，婴儿们还在妈妈肚子里的时候其实就具备这种学习的能力了。 他们指出，当婴儿们还在母体内发育的时候，他们就能够识别和理解他们所听到的声音了。

    MARIO RITTER: Another study has suggested that low birth weight babies with no evidence of disability may be more likely than other children to have physical and mental problems.

    MARIO RITTER:有另外一项研究表明，出生时体重较轻的非残疾婴儿比其他较重的婴儿更有可能在身体和心理上出现问题。

    American researchers studied almost five hundred boys and girls. They were born in, or admitted to, one of three hospitals in New Jersey between nineteen eighty-four and nineteen eighty-seven. At birth, each child weighed fewer than two thousand grams.

    美国研究员对五百个小孩子做了一项研究。 他们都是于1984年至1987年期间在美国新泽西州的同一家医院出生的， 出生时的体重都不到四斤。

    The boys and girls had an average age of sixteen at the time of the study. They were asked to complete intelligence and motor skill tests in their homes. Their test results were compared with those of other children their age.

    在做这项研究的时候，这些小孩子的平均年龄是16岁。 研究员要求他们在家里接受关于智力和运动技能的测试。 然后，研究员拿他们的测试结果与其他的同龄小孩子的测试结果作比较。

    The study found that the young people with low birth weight often had more problems with motion skills than others. These problems were more common among males, those with injured nerve tissue in the brain and those who had been given oxygen supplies for days as a baby.

    研究员发现，出生时体重较轻的青少年们在运动技能方面比其他的青少年问题要多一些。 这些问题在男孩子当中更加普遍，尤其是那些在婴儿时期遭受了神经组织损伤，或者身体虚弱到需要通过供氧来维持生命的男孩子们。

    JUNE SIMMS: Experts say the first three years of a child's life is the most intensive period of language and speech development. This is the time when the brain is developing. Language and communication skills are believed to develop best in an environment that is rich with sounds and sights. Also, the child should repeatedly hear the speech and language of other people.

    专家指出，出生之后的头三年是儿童言语能力发育最密集的一段时期， 也是大脑发育的时期。 如果在这一时期内，孩子们生活在一个声音和景象都很丰富的环境里，那他们的语言和沟通能力就会发育得最好。 而且，我们应该长期在婴儿面前重复一些话语。

    The National Institutes of Health says evidence suggests there are important periods of speech and language development in children. This means the brain is best able to learn a language during this period. Officials say the ability to learn a language will be more difficult if these periods pass without early contact with a language.

    国家健康研究所表示，有证据表明儿童的语言能力有几个重要的发育期。 这意味着，在这些时期内大脑对于语言的学习能力是最强的。 官方称那些早期没怎么接触到语言的儿童在学习语言的时候就更加困难了。

    MARIO RITTER: The first signs of communication happen during the first few days of life when a baby learns that crying will bring food and attention. Research shows that most children recognize the general sounds of their native language by six months of age. By that time, a baby usually begins to make sounds. These sounds become a kind of nonsense speech over time.

    MARIO RITTER:婴儿最初表现出的交流迹象就是，在哺乳期内他们发现哭叫可以使自己得到食物和引起注意。 该研究显示，大多数儿童在六个月大的时候就能识别本地语言中的一些常见声音了。 而这个时候婴儿也开始会发出声音了， 这些声音都是乱七八糟的。

    By the end of the first year, most children are able to say a few simple words. But they may not understand the meaning of their words. By eighteen months of age, most children can say eight to ten words. By two years, most children are able to make simple statements, or sentences. By ages three, four and five, the number of words a child can understand quickly increases. It is at this age that children begin to understand the rules of language.

    满一岁的时候，大多数儿童就能够说一些简单的词了， 但他们并不知道自己说的是什么意思。 到了十八个月大的时候，大多数的儿童都会说八至十个词了。 到了两岁时，他们大多能够说一些简单的句子了。 而到了三岁，或者四五岁时，儿童们能够理解的词语就越来越多了。 这个年龄阶段的儿童开始对语言的规则有所了解了。

    JUNE SIMMS: Many children grow up in homes where more than one language is spoken. It is clear that understanding two languages can help children as they grow older. However, new studies are showing the more immediate effects of bilingualism on babies' brains.

    JUNE SIMMS:很多儿童成长的家庭环境里不只使用一种语言。 很显然，能够掌握两种语言对儿童长大之后是很有帮助的。 但新的研究表明，双语教育对婴儿的大脑发育有更多的直接作用。

Researchers at the University of Washington organized one of the studies. They measured brain activity to compare babies in bilingual families to those in monolingual homes, where one language was spoken. The information they gathered is helping to explain how the early brain listens to language and how listening can influence the brain.

    华盛顿大学的研究员组织了一项研究， 他们分别对生活在双语家庭和只讲一种语言的单语家庭中的婴儿们的脑部活动做了测试和比较。 他们所收集到的信息帮助他们明白了婴儿早期的大脑是怎样处理他们所听到的言语的？ 以及这些听力对他们的大脑有什么作用呢？

    MARIO RITTER: The researchers studied babies who were between six and twelve months old. The babies were not yet saying words in any language. The youngest monolingual babies were able to recognize a difference between a language used at home and another language. But by ten to twelve months of age, the monolingual babies were not identifying the sounds of the second language, only the main language spoken in their home.

    MARIO RITTER:研究员们所测试的对象都是六至十二个月大的婴儿， 他们都还不会说话。 单语家庭中的婴儿们在六个月大的时候能够把家人使用的语言和其他的语言区别开来， 但是到了一周岁的时候，他们就只能识别家人经常使用的语言，而不能识别其他语言了。

    In comparison, the bilingual babies did not differentiate sounds of different languages spoken to them between the ages of six and nine months. But between ten and twelve months, they could identify the different sounds of both languages.

    相比之下，双语家庭中的婴儿们在六至九个月大的时候还不能区别出不同的语言。 但是长到十至十二个月的时候，他们就能识别家里所使用的两种语言了。

    JUNE SIMMS: Another report suggests that the effects languages have on a young brain are a result of people speaking, and not from video or audio recordings. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics says parents of young children should limit the time youngsters spend watching television or videos. The group says that spending time in front of the television offers no educational benefit or help to children younger than two years old.

    JUNE SIMMS:另外一个研究报告表明，语言对婴儿脑部的作用是由于他们身边的人平时所讲的话语引起的， 而不是由于播放的录像或录音。 美国儿科学会指出，实际上父母应该限制小孩子收看电视或者视频的时间。 该机构表示，看电视对于两岁以下的儿童来说并无教育意义，或者说并无好处。

    Many videos are created especially for young children. They are advertised as learning aides. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says there is little evidence that such videos have any beneficial effect on babies. In fact, the group is warning that too much time in front of the television can in fact slow language development in children. Instead it suggests that parents limit the time babies spend watching video screens, including televisions and computers.

    尽管有很多视频都是专门为小孩子制作的， 还打着儿童学习助手的旗号。 但是，美国儿科学会表示，并没有证据显示这些视频对婴儿有任何的有益效果。 该机构警告说，如果儿童看电视的时间太多，实际上反而会影响他们语言能力的发育。 因此，该机构建议父母应该限制小孩子们看视频的时间，无论是电视还是电脑上的视频。

    MARIO RITTER: The report was released last month at a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The warning is not as severe as one the Academy made in nineteen ninety-nine. At that time, parents were advised to completely avoid television viewing for children under two years old.

    MARIO RITTER:这一研究报告在上个月美国儿科学会召开的一个会议上发布。 但是，该机构于1999年提出的一个警告比这次的更为严重。 当时，他们建议父母应该彻底避免让两岁以下的婴儿收看电视。

    The group says it now recognizes that banning all screen time is probably unrealistic in an age where video technology is everywhere. What is more helpful for the development of young children, it says, is communication and activities with people. The AAP says having the television on, even if it is not being watched directly by young children, can cause a problem.

    美国儿科学会表示，在现在这样一个视频技术如此发达和普遍的时代里，要完全禁止婴儿不收看视频是不现实的， 而对小孩子成长更有帮助的方法就是多让他们与别人交流和玩耍。 该机构还指出，尽管有时候小孩子没有直接地收看电视，但是电视在他们身边开着也是对他们不利的。

    JUNE SIMMS: Another American study has shown the effect of early education on future learning abilities. The study followed more than one thousand three hundred children from birth through the ages of ten or eleven. It found that children who received higher quality care before starting school had better language skills by those ages than children who had lower quality care.

    JUNE SIMMS:另外一项美国人所做的研究揭示了早期教育对儿童未来学习能力的作用。 该研究小组的观察对象多达一千三百个儿童，而且从这些儿童出生的那天起一直追踪观察直到他们长到十岁或十一岁。 研究员发现，那些在开始上学之前就受到了良好的家庭教育的孩子们比其他同龄的孩子们具备更佳的言语技能。

    The study is called the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. It is said to be the largest, longest lasting and most complete study of child care in the United States.

    这项研究被称为“儿童健康与人类发展国家研究所关于早期儿童保育与青年期发展的研究”。 据说它是美国关于儿童保育所开展的规模最大、研究时期最长，而且是最完整的一项研究。

    MARIO RITTER: The children included in the study were born around nineteen ninety-one in ten areas of the country. Researchers examined the quality and amount of child care the children received until they were four and one-half years old. Child care included any care provided by people other than the child's mother that lasted at least ten hours a week. This included any care given by fathers or other family members.

    MARIO RITTER:该项目的研究对象是出生于1991年左右，来自于美国十个不同地区的孩子们。 当这些孩子们长到四岁半的时候，研究员测试了他们所受到的儿童保育的程度和质量。 儿童保育包括除了妈妈以外任何人给儿童提供的每周大约花去十个小时的照顾， 这些照顾可以是来自于孩子们的爸爸，或者来自其他家庭成员。

    The researchers then examined each child's performance in school and social development. They also measured other influences, such as the quality of classroom education and parenting.

    研究员随后又观察了这些小孩子在学校和社会上的表现。 他们还考虑到了其他的一些影响因素，比如：课堂教育和父母教育的质量。

    JUNE SIMMS: The researchers examined whether the developmental qualities that had been observed in young children were still present a few years later. They found that the older children who had received higher quality child care continued to show better ability in tests of language skills.

    JUNE SIMMS:研究员们还观察了这些小孩子们在几年之后的表现是否还是和几年前的一样。 他们发现，那些在早期接受的培育更好的孩子们在言语技能测试中表现更好。

    Researchers tested the children's ability to name objects shown in a series of pictures. The study confirmed that a link between high quality child care and better test results continued as the children grew older. It also found that the children's ability was not dependent on the amount of time they had spent in child care.

    研究员拿出一系列的图片，让这些孩子们来说出图片上的东西叫什么名字。 测试结果再一次证实了，接受了高质量儿童保育的婴儿们在长大一些之后各项能力发育得更好。 研究员还发现，孩子们能力的发展并不依赖于他们所受到的儿童保育的时间多少，主要还是质量。

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