This paper will talk about the linguistic role models that, directly and indirectly, influence the speech of an individual in different stages of life and during the time spent in educational institutions. By spending time with its family, the child learns to communicate since birth. Throughout the first years of child’s life, the biggest role in developing speech is carried out by parents, and later on that role is taken over by the teacher in primary school. The media (television, the Internet, radio) which the child is exposed to on a daily basis are present and the child takes over speech patterns of public figures by modifying what’s already been taught. The influence of social surroundings and role models in acquiring behavior is explained by the theory of social studies of the psychologist Albert Bandura. According to that theory, most behavioral manners are thought by observing the model, and for repeating the behavior attention, the ability to memorize and motivation are needed. When it comes to language, alongside the biological cognitive predispositions (such as healthy hearing), social surroundings are an important factor for the successful acquisition of language. Furthermore, this paper states research connected to the analysis of the quality of speech among Croatian public speakers, as an example of speech in public places to which a child can we exposed. Foreign researches also state the social component, as well as the motivation for acquiring the language. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and unite the knowledge from the existing literature and present researches through which the role of social surroundings or child’s speech role models are presented in the process of acquiring speech.