Face Talk: Babies see their way to language insights

To a 4-to-6-month-old baby, a talking face that can be seen but not heard still speaks volumes. Infants in that age range can distinguish between two languages solely by looking at a speaker’s face, without hearing a sound, a new study suggests.

SAY WHAT? At ages 4 months and 6 months, but not at 8 months, babies from monolingual families discern their own language from a foreign one by watching a speaker’s facial movements in silent video clips.