(NEW YORK, Reuters)New research suggests that babies start to recognize words as early as 8 months of age.
（路透社纽约电）新的研究显示，婴儿在八个月大的时候就开始认字。

Investigators found that young infants can distinguish when a word begins and ends.
研究人员发现，小婴儿可以辨别出一个字的开始与结尾。
Words that begin with a consonant sound were easier to learn.
以辅音开头的字比较容易学。
Recognizing words is the first step toward learning a language.
认字是学习语言的第一步。