So what enables hyperpolyglots to seemingly pick up a new language at the push of a button?
Erard says it is hard to explain, but whatever an individual's biographical reasons are, he believes there is something that distinguishes hyperpolyglots neurologically.
"They have a neurological hardware that responds to the world, that's fed by the world, that is suited to a pattern that is recognition-heavy, sound-heavy and memory-heavy - that is very structured, and also very sociable.
"They have an ability to switch between languages very easily, and that involves cognitive skills which are often heritable," he adds.
IDK about this. Pics or it didn't happen. I think most people have the ability to learn several languages just fine; it's not a special cookie thing, IMO.
Yeah, Erard's book has it both ways: some people are born with the right wiring, but then again anybody can do it if they're motivated and enjoy the drudgery.
he had a syntactical error in his last sentence btw. he said je mehr man lernt desto wird es leichter or something like that. Should be je mehr man lernt destor leichter wird es.
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Erard says it is hard to explain, but whatever an individual's biographical reasons are, he believes there is something that distinguishes hyperpolyglots neurologically.
"They have a neurological hardware that responds to the world, that's fed by the world, that is suited to a pattern that is recognition-heavy, sound-heavy and memory-heavy - that is very structured, and also very sociable.
"They have an ability to switch between languages very easily, and that involves cognitive skills which are often heritable," he adds.
IDK about this. Pics or it didn't happen. I think most people have the ability to learn several languages just fine; it's not a special cookie thing, IMO.
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The book's pretty good, though.
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