Our Uhs And Ums May Help Children Learn Language

[thundley4]

We think we should remove any ums and uhs when we talk, especially when teaching children language. New research finds that such pauses may be useful. Christie Nicholson reports

"Uh we'll be um right back um after, um this message."

Now does that sound like a pro speaker? It's better to remove ums and uhs right?—so we’ve been told all our lives.
"We'll be right back after this message."

Well not always, according to new research in the journal Developmental Science. When it comes to teaching our toddlers how to speak uhs and ums help the child to focus on words that follow.

Researchers studied children between the ages of 18 and 30 months as they sat on their parents’ lap in front of a monitor. The screen displayed two images. One was familiar, such as a   banana, and the other an abstract made-up object. A recorded voice said things like: I see a banana, or There is uh, um, uh a banana. When the voice stumbled, children who were more than 24 months tended to look at the made-up object more often than at the familiar object. Because children who’ve reached that age understand that uhs often precede unknowns.

Not that, uh, you’d want to, uh, riddle your um sentence with, uh, uhs. But on your next trip to the museum with the little one, it’s ok if you point to a skeleton and say, "Oh, that’s an uh, uh um, a velociraptor! "

—Christie Nicholson

Scientific American

I look at this in two ways. Obama knows it and uses it because he looks down on everyone, or he knows his base is stupid and will believe him more if he talks this way.

[Evil_Conservative]

How can using "uh's" and "um's" be good for helping children learn how to speak?  It annoys me so much when someone says "uh" and "um" after every two words or so.  Obama.  We try to avoid those "fillers" when speaking to our daughter, because I don't want her to think that's how you speak.  I'd rather just pause and then finish the sentence.  Does that make sense?

[Chris_]

Now does that sound like a pro speaker? It's better to remove ums and uhs right?—so we’ve been told all our lives.
"We'll be right back after this message."

What about everyone older than 30 months?  I don't spend my days with children, I work with adults.

[CG6468]

The constant "you know" 5 times in each sentence drives me nuts.

[Eupher]

"Like, you know, I, like, just the other day, like it was so AWESOME when I, like, saw the skateboard dude like rack his nuts against that bike rail."

Most young people and the way they speak today drive me nuts, especially this valley girl bullshit.

[true_blood]

That's what happens when the teleprompter isn't used and Obozo has to speak, I mean lie.

[vesta111]

That's what happens when the teleprompter isn't used and Obozo has to speak, I mean lie.

I have heard that Cops and Courts just love it when a POI  speaks that way.  They find that the umms are giving the POI a few seconds to consider how to lie about something.

[redwhit]

The constant "you know" 5 times in each sentence drives me nuts.

I know, like, you know?