Language Skills in Adults with Heart Defects

People need to hear language to learn language. When young people spend more time listening to language, having conversations, and expressing new ideas with language, they naturally develop better language skills.

Since most adults have a good grasp of their native language(s), they can usually learn the most from practicing the type of language that is hardest for them.

This can mean:

• Challenge yourself to start conversations and ask people questions

• Practice really listening to others, and asking questions that relate to what they say

• Talk with many different types of people, to learn different ways of talking, and to be exposed to different vocabularies and dialects

• Discuss big and complicated ideas with a friend or family member, and work hard to find the words and sentences to express more complex thoughts

• Practice using types of language that might be harder, such as idioms, sarcasm, or exaggeration, and ask a trusted friend or loved one how well it worked

• Ask people to tell you about their interests, jobs, and passions, and focus on the new words they are using and the big ideas they are sharing

• Debate controversial issues with a friend or family member, and focus on expressing your opinions clearly, and really understand theirs

• If you speak 2 or more languages or dialects, try speaking in the one that is less comfortable. Try code-switching in new and creative ways

Most young adults do not often encounter unfamiliar words or grammar in their everyday conversations. However, they do encounter new words and grammar in books.

Reading books is an important way to continue expanding vocabulary and language through adulthood.

This can mean:

• read whatever you enjoy as much as you want (novels, magazines, newspapers, graphic novels, picture books, science books, comics--all are good!)

• occasionally challenge yourself to read something different: a new author? a new genre? a book that's older or newer or from a different culture?

• listen to audiobooks and podcasts

• go to the library regularly

• join a library or school book club

• join a local theater, and read the scripts

• go to slam poetry competitions, and maybe write a poem yourself

Word games can help people to learn new language skills. Families and friends can play word games together to help build a culture of words.

This can mean:

• board games, card games, online games, games in the newspaper, game apps

• games where you make words, put words together into sentences, make up definitions of words, use words creatively, make connections among words, guess words

• rhymes, word puzzles, tongue twisters, jokes

• spoken word games

Have a family game night or a dorm game night, play games in the car, challenge your roommate to beat you in an online game every morning. When you play these games regularly, you can get everyone in the household more invested in language learning.

When people become aware of language itself, and can talk about language, this is called "metalinguistic awareness." You can help to build metalinguistic by explicitly noticing and talking about language.

This can mean:

• Talk about words!: Which are interesting, funny, confusing? What are their multiple meanings?

• Tell your parent or friend when you've learned a new word, or heard a funny, touching, or interesting piece of language. Ask them to share what they have learned and noticed.

• What connections and differences do you notice between different languages? Between different dialects?

• Do you and your family or friends code-switch? (switch or mix the language and/or dialect you use depending on the situation) Talk about when and how! Be creative mixing your language(s) and dialect(s), and celebrate all ways of talking.

• Talk about languages you hear in your community.

• Talk about what language sounds like, and what rhythms, words, and word combinations you like the sound of.

• Try playing around with how you form a sentence: could you say it a different way? Could you put words in a different order?

• Talk about the choices writers or storytellers make in choosing words, and writing sentences.

This content was reviewed by a Speech and Language Pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital .

Developmental care is best when it is local. Families local to Boston can receive care from the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program (CNP), and/or the Boston Adult Congenital Heart (BACH) program. Families from other regions can use the link below to find their local care team.