27 March 2025
Ghanaian babies grow up speaking two to six languages - Eurekalert.org
The study, which examined 121 babies aged three to twelve months in Accra, the capital of Ghana, demonstrates a remarkable variety of language input in the early months of life. The children are regularly exposed to two to six languages.
Strikingly, the number of caregivers the children have also ranges between two and six, and babies who have more adults in their daily lives who regularly take care of them also hear more different languages. In Ghana, families often live in so-called “compound buildings”, where many everyday interactions take place in the courtyard, where family, neighbors and other relatives play an important role in the lives of children.