Learning Abilities
Besides the obvious common sense explanation - that someone interested in languages and sufficiently developed intellectually to become capable of optimizing his learning technique with experience will become more and more efficient with each new language learned, and therefore acquire them with less and less effort on average, there are several more exotic theories as to why some people learn many languages with relative ease, while others struggle learning even one foreign language. One theory is that a spike in testosterone levels while in the uterus can increase brain asymmetry. Others have suggested that becoming a polyglot has nothing to do with such factors and is actually just about hard work, which any adult can apply despite not being naturally talented. The neuroscientist Katrin Amunts studied the brain of Emil Krebs and determined that the area of Krebs' brain responsible for language —Broca's area— was organised differently than in monolinguals.
Read more about this topic: Polyglotism
Famous quotes containing the words learning and/or abilities:
“Young children learn in a different manner from that of older children and adults, yet we can teach them many things if we adapt our materials and mode of instruction to their level of ability. But we miseducate young children when we assume that their learning abilities are comparable to those of older children and that they can be taught with materials and with the same instructional procedures appropriate to school-age children.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“One never gets to know a person’s character better than by watching his behavior during decisive moments.... It is always only danger which forces the most deeply hidden strengths and abilities of a human being to come forth.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)