In the wild they learn to mimic their own spieces, and when they don't have those sounds to mimic, they pick up sounds you use often around them. To teach it, just keep associating affection and treats with certain sounds you want them to pick up.

Repetition is the key. Try to say the same words alot around it, that way it'll be familiar with the sound.

G'day Darth Vumoid, Thank you for your question. Parrots are both highly intelligent and natural mimics able to imitate many sounds. You can teach your parrot to speak by speaking to it each day or playing a tape recording of you repeating a phrase. Use the phrase at appropriate times like saying good morning or good night at the right time. You should also put your parrot in a place where it interacts with people. I have attached sources for your reference. You might also want to get a copy of "Birds on the Couch: The Bird Shrink's Guide to Keeping Polly from Going Crackers and You Out of the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ruth Hanessian Regards Wikipedia Parrot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot#Sound_imitation_and_speech BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm Washington Post Teach your parrot to speak http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61925-2004May27.html Independent http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000402/ai_n14297224

Repetition. You can teach a parrot to talk easier if you get it as a baby.

This might surprise you, but parrots don't have vocal chords. They're able to produce and mimic sounds by learning how to manipulate their throat to produce the desired sound. Teaching one to talk will vary considerably with species and with sex. An example would be a simple Cockatiel. Most males will aquire a simple vocabulary of a few words (they aren't great talkers compared to other species) but it's very rare to have a female talk. Other species, like African Greys and Quaker Parrots are quick to mimic and are actually able to associate words and sounds with objects. My Quaker in a way of example, will say "din din" when hungry. When I fill his food dish, I'll get "there ya go, thank you". That's the only instance he uses that particular combination. Teaching one that is a species known for it's mimic ability to talk merely takes time, repetition and a reward for the behavior. It's best to start with a young bird, but older one's can learn too. You may hear people telling you to use a playback device, like a recorder. This rarely works. Although it IS repetition, the bird doesn't want to interact with a machine, it wants it's owner ( head of the flock). Making eye contact when repeating words you'd like it to learn is important as well. A machine can't do that.

Just talk to them, they will pick ANYTHING up. My 10year old corella can talk your ears off. His phone ring is so good that people ask where the phone is. He does a cat screach, dog bark. My nan comes over every year from London and loves to hear him swear! Makes her laugh. He laughs really good and sneezes with actions! If he hears a phone ring he says " somebody answer the phone. Somebody answer the phone. Answer the f#*king phone!" Don't know what the neighbours think.

The best time to teach your parrot to talk is in the evening, take them out of their cage to the living room or some other place inthe house. Start by saying only a word or two, or short phrases. The key to this is to keep doing this every day. After you have spent your time with him outside of his cage, put him back into his cage and give him a treat.