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:
“Our goal as a parent is to give life to our children’s learning—to instruct, to teach, to help them develop self-discipline—an ordering of the self from the inside, not imposition from the outside. Any technique that does not give life to a child’s learning and leave a child’s dignity intact cannot be called discipline—it is punishment, no matter what language it is clothed in.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)
“The art of using moderate abilities to good advantage is a way of stealing the esteem of others, and often brings a man into greater reputation than does real merit.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)