Patrick, who is 4 years old, runs to his mother and says "Mommy, wan go pawk wight way". She responds "Why do you want to go to the park right away? ". "Cause uh kown dump, wady dwaw me pate!". "Because there are clowns who are jumping and a lady who will draw you a face! Oh yes, there is a fair going on! "O.K let's go". Patrick's language has been worrying his mother since he was two years old. Her worry grows as she listens to Patrick's little cousins who are his age, who are speaking more clearly. Patrick's first word appeared at the usual time, and his vocabulary often slowly but regularly, but even though he understands everything well, making sentences and pronouncing words remain very difficult for Patrick. Patrick presents with, a simple language delay.

Language delay affects a good number of children betweeb the ages 2 and 5. The prevalence of language problems reported in the literature, varies depending on the subjects' age, and type of problem. If the problem persists after the age of 5, it may become evident that this is a disorder, rather than a delay. A disorder is characterised by persistant and more severe linguistic deficits (as may be found with a severe hearing loss, intellectual deficiency, specific language impairment, or autism), while a delay is resolved by the time the child reaches school age. The symptoms of language delay are delayed acquistion of vocabulary, of sentence structure, and of pronounciation of new or complex words. It is important to emphasize however that language comprehension, as well as the desire to communicate, are usually fine. Expressive language delay is associated with different causes, such as prolonged middle ear infection - otits media - which causes fluctuating hearing loss, lack of opportunities to communicate (the result of major illnesses, isolation, etc.), /partly organized exposure to several languages/, or to a genetic predisposition.

There are several measures that can contribute to preventing, or, minimizing language delay. These have to be practiced regularly by parents, as well as by all significant people in the child's environment. Some of these measures are as follows :

• When addressing the child, bring yourself down to the child's eye level, so that eye contact can be established; talk slowly and naturally; use sentences only slightly longer than those produced by the child.
• Repeat what the child has said but slowly and correcting any errors and if you can, helping hil with particular sounds or words with which he had trouble. Keep the conversation going, though.
• Talk to the child : using simple and clear sentences what we are doing or on what the child is doing; give the child time to ask what he wants using sounds, whatever he can use words or gestures
• Do a lot of naming actions and things for the child; give the child the opportunity to be with other children of her own age.

Parents who are worried about their child's language development are encouraged to consult a Speech-Language Pathologist. She will be able to verify if a problem exists, to identify the nature of the problem, to make relevant recommendations (i.e., advice on how to stimulate the child, referal to other services etc.), and to intervene, if neccessary. A timely consultation will pave the way for the best preparation for school.