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Babel No More
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Produktbeschreibungen
Pressestimmen
“Among the surprising qualities of Babel No More, Michael Erard’s globe-trekking adventure in search of the world’s virtuosos of language learning, is that a book dealing with language acquisition and polyglot linguistics can be so gripping. But indeed it is – part travelogue, part science lesson, part intellectual investigation, it is an entertaining, informative survey of some of the most fascinating polyglots of our time.” –The New York Times Book Review
“A fine addition to our favorite books about language…Captivating and illuminating, Babel No More is as much an absorbing piece of investigative voyeurism into superhuman feats as it is an intelligent invitation to visit the outer limits of our own cerebral potential.” –The Atlantic Monthly
“In Babel No More, Michael Erard has written the first serious book about the people who master vast numbers of languages... [Erard] approaches his topic with both wonder and a healthy dash of scepticism ... repeatedly pepper[ing] his text with such questions, feeling his way through his story as a thoughtful observer, rather than banging about like an academic with a theory to defend or a pitchman with a technique to sell...fascinating.” – The Economist
"Babel No More is a thorough delight. People always have questions for linguists about learning new languages and being bilingual, unaware of the peculiar fact that modern linguistics has nothing to do with learning how to speak new languages. This book finally gives an informed and even addictive guide to why some people pick up new languages so easily and how maybe you can too." – John McWhorter, Columbia University and New Republic Contributing Editor
“In this book, Michael Erard takes us on a captivating journey in search of hyperpolyglots– those rare and unique individuals who have mastered six or more languages. Part biography, part detective story, Erard's spellbinding book offers us a window through which we may view the lives of these remarkable (and remarkably diverse) characters, telling their stories while trying to answer the fundamental question: how did they do it?” – Claude Cartaginese, Editor, The Polyglot Project
"Erard gets beneath the surface of the hyperpolyglot, piercing the myth of perfect competence, to show the actual landscape of motives, obstacles and satisfactions that texture the world of the long-distance language-learner. [They] are revealed as a tantalizing tribe, individually reticent and even charming, as they offer their incomprehensible fluency to the world at large.” – Nicholas Ostler, author of The Last Lingua Franca (2010)
“A fascinating study of the unusual ability to learn multiple languages. This opens up a new area of research in the study of giftedness.” – Ellen Winner, author of Gifted Children, Myths and Realities
“An intrepid and savvy linguistic explorer, Michael Erard sets out to find the world's masters of multiple languages. He discovers the best of them, and much more about their talents and brains, their motivation and habits, and their places in society. Babel No More brings the genius language learners to life. It will delight the enthusiasts who love the challenge of learning foreign languages, and will comfort the weary who dreaded facing Latin verb conjugations.” – Deborah Fallows, author of Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language
"You'll be awed by the incredible characters in this eye-opening book." – Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
“A fine addition to our favorite books about language…Captivating and illuminating, Babel No More is as much an absorbing piece of investigative voyeurism into superhuman feats as it is an intelligent invitation to visit the outer limits of our own cerebral potential.” –The Atlantic Monthly
“In Babel No More, Michael Erard has written the first serious book about the people who master vast numbers of languages... [Erard] approaches his topic with both wonder and a healthy dash of scepticism ... repeatedly pepper[ing] his text with such questions, feeling his way through his story as a thoughtful observer, rather than banging about like an academic with a theory to defend or a pitchman with a technique to sell...fascinating.” – The Economist
"Babel No More is a thorough delight. People always have questions for linguists about learning new languages and being bilingual, unaware of the peculiar fact that modern linguistics has nothing to do with learning how to speak new languages. This book finally gives an informed and even addictive guide to why some people pick up new languages so easily and how maybe you can too." – John McWhorter, Columbia University and New Republic Contributing Editor
“In this book, Michael Erard takes us on a captivating journey in search of hyperpolyglots– those rare and unique individuals who have mastered six or more languages. Part biography, part detective story, Erard's spellbinding book offers us a window through which we may view the lives of these remarkable (and remarkably diverse) characters, telling their stories while trying to answer the fundamental question: how did they do it?” – Claude Cartaginese, Editor, The Polyglot Project
"Erard gets beneath the surface of the hyperpolyglot, piercing the myth of perfect competence, to show the actual landscape of motives, obstacles and satisfactions that texture the world of the long-distance language-learner. [They] are revealed as a tantalizing tribe, individually reticent and even charming, as they offer their incomprehensible fluency to the world at large.” – Nicholas Ostler, author of The Last Lingua Franca (2010)
“A fascinating study of the unusual ability to learn multiple languages. This opens up a new area of research in the study of giftedness.” – Ellen Winner, author of Gifted Children, Myths and Realities
“An intrepid and savvy linguistic explorer, Michael Erard sets out to find the world's masters of multiple languages. He discovers the best of them, and much more about their talents and brains, their motivation and habits, and their places in society. Babel No More brings the genius language learners to life. It will delight the enthusiasts who love the challenge of learning foreign languages, and will comfort the weary who dreaded facing Latin verb conjugations.” – Deborah Fallows, author of Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language
"You'll be awed by the incredible characters in this eye-opening book." – Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
Kurzbeschreibung
In the tradition of the bestsellers Word Freak and The Language Instinct comes a fascinating exploration of linguistic superlearners whose abilities shed light on the intellectual potential in us all.
What do an Italian cardinal, a Connecticut blacksmith, and a German diplomat have in common with an MIT linguist, a Hungarian translator, and a Scottish church organist? They were all “hyperpolyglots,” “language superlearners,” or “massive multilinguals.” In Babel No More, Michael Erard delves into the lives and minds of these intriguing individuals both past and present and discovers the upper limit of the human ability to learn, speak, and remember languages.
Hyperpolyglots—people who, by one definition, can use six or more languages—are fascinating not simply because what they do is out of the ordinary. Rather, their accomplishments serve as a point of reference for the rest of us—in some ways they are what the author calls a gifted neural tribe, absorbing language for reasons, and with methods, that few people would emulate. But they are also marked by simple, if dogged, methods—the most prolific multilingual in history, Cardinal Mezzofanti, used flashcards. Taken together, their pursuits present a natural experiment into the limits and the nature of memory and language.
Part scientific detective story, part travelogue, part valentine to anyone who’s ever hoped to sprechen or parler something other than a mother tongue, Babel No More takes us all over the world to look at language learning in an entirely new way.
In diesem Buch
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Buchdeckel | Copyright | Inhaltsverzeichnis | Auszug | Stichwortverzeichnis | Rückseite
Buchdeckel | Copyright | Inhaltsverzeichnis | Auszug | Stichwortverzeichnis | Rückseite
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Format:Kindle Edition
Das Buch "Babel No More" ist ein populärwissenschaftliches Sachbuch, in dem ein Thema besprochen wird, was bisher wissenschaftlich noch nicht erforscht war. Es geht nämlich um die "Hyperpolyglots", das sind polyglotte, das heißt mehrsprachige Menschen. Um an Datenmaterial über diese Personengruppe zu kommen hat der amerikanische Linguist Michael Erard über das Internet eine Umfrage durchgefüht, die sich an Personen richtete, die mindestens 6 Sprachen sprechen. Ich habe an seiner Umfrage teilgenommen und den Fragebogen ausgefüllt, da ich selber 7 Sprachen spreche und somit zu seiner ursprünglichen Zielgruppe der Forschung gehöre. Später hat er dann die Kriterien anders festgelegt und insofern definiert er heute diejenigen Polyglots als "Hyperpolyglots", die mindestens 11 Sprachen sprechen.
Ursprünglich war Michael Erard auf der Suche nach den Menschen, die am erfolgreichsten weltweit Sprachen gelernt haben. Wo er überall geforscht hat und wie er diese Menschen gefunden hat, das erzählt er in diesem Buch. Zuerst hat er in der Vergangenheit geforscht und ist dabei von dem italienischen Kardinal Mezzofanti ausgegangen. Er beschreibt die sprachlichen Fähigkeiten von Mezzofanti und was er in dessen Archiv in Bologna an Details herausgefunden hat. Der deutsche Diplomat Emil Krebs ist der nächste herausragende Hyperpolyglot der von Michael Erard vorsgestellt wird. Das Besondere an Emil Krebs besteht darin, dass nach seinem Tode die Anghörigen von ihm sein Gehirn der Wissenschaft zur Verfügung gestellt haben. Michael Erard ist zu diesem Zweck in Düsseldorf gewesen und hat sich das Gehirn diese verstorbenen Hyperpolyglots angeschaut und äußert Erkenntisse zum Bereich der Hirnforschung. Darüber hinaus geht er auf weitere Hyperpolyglots ein, die verstorben sind.
Das zweite große Thema sind die heute lebenden Hyperpolyglots. Er hat sie in den verschiedensten Ländern gefunden, besucht und interviewt. Dazu gehören zum Beispiel der amerikanische Professor Alexander Arguelles (der auch durch seinen You Tube - Kanal bekannt ist) und der Belgier Johan Vanderwalle, der einen Polyglot-Wettbewerb gewonnen hat. Und die Griechin Helen Abadzi, die schon deswegen auffällt weil es so wenige Frauen unter den Hyperpolyglots gibt. In diesem Zusammenhang werden weitere Hyperpolyglots vorgestellt und ihre sprachlichen Fähigkeiten analysiert.
Was sind die wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen, die in diesem Buch untersucht werden:
1. Wo liegt die Grenze dessen, wieviele Sprachen man überhaupt lernen kann?
2. Inwieweit sind die Behauptungen, wieviele Sprachen bestimmte Hyperpolyglots sprechen, plausibel?
3. Was können allgemeine Sprachenlerner von diesen Hyperpolyglots lernen?
4. Was kann man machen, damit die Menschen mehr Sprachen lernen?
5. Haben die Hyperpolyglots irgendwelche Merkmale, die sie von anderen Menschen unterscheiden?
6. Welche Lerntechniken haben die Hyperpolyglots?
7. Gibt es bestimmte Länder, in denen es ganz alltäglich ist, viele Sprachen zu sprechen?
8. Was kann man über das Gehirn von Hyperpolyglots herausfinden?
Ich denke mal, dass meine Aufzählung von Fragen nicht vollständig ist, aber das sind zum Beispiel Themen, die in diesem Buch erörtert werden. Wer gerne darüber Erkenntisse gewinnen will, sollte "Babel No More" am besten selbst lesen.
Mein Hauptinteresse an diesem Buch gilt den Berichten über die jetzt lebenden Hyperpolyglots. Einer davon, der Schwede Eric Gunnemark, war bereits mit dem Verfassen eines Buches "Polyglottery Today" beschäftigt, ist aber leider so früh verstorben, dass er sein Werk nicht mehr vollenden konnte.
Da das Buch erst im Januar 2012 In den USA veröffentlicht wurde, gibt es (Stand März 2012) noch keine deutsche Übersetzung davon.
Ursprünglich war Michael Erard auf der Suche nach den Menschen, die am erfolgreichsten weltweit Sprachen gelernt haben. Wo er überall geforscht hat und wie er diese Menschen gefunden hat, das erzählt er in diesem Buch. Zuerst hat er in der Vergangenheit geforscht und ist dabei von dem italienischen Kardinal Mezzofanti ausgegangen. Er beschreibt die sprachlichen Fähigkeiten von Mezzofanti und was er in dessen Archiv in Bologna an Details herausgefunden hat. Der deutsche Diplomat Emil Krebs ist der nächste herausragende Hyperpolyglot der von Michael Erard vorsgestellt wird. Das Besondere an Emil Krebs besteht darin, dass nach seinem Tode die Anghörigen von ihm sein Gehirn der Wissenschaft zur Verfügung gestellt haben. Michael Erard ist zu diesem Zweck in Düsseldorf gewesen und hat sich das Gehirn diese verstorbenen Hyperpolyglots angeschaut und äußert Erkenntisse zum Bereich der Hirnforschung. Darüber hinaus geht er auf weitere Hyperpolyglots ein, die verstorben sind.
Das zweite große Thema sind die heute lebenden Hyperpolyglots. Er hat sie in den verschiedensten Ländern gefunden, besucht und interviewt. Dazu gehören zum Beispiel der amerikanische Professor Alexander Arguelles (der auch durch seinen You Tube - Kanal bekannt ist) und der Belgier Johan Vanderwalle, der einen Polyglot-Wettbewerb gewonnen hat. Und die Griechin Helen Abadzi, die schon deswegen auffällt weil es so wenige Frauen unter den Hyperpolyglots gibt. In diesem Zusammenhang werden weitere Hyperpolyglots vorgestellt und ihre sprachlichen Fähigkeiten analysiert.
Was sind die wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen, die in diesem Buch untersucht werden:
1. Wo liegt die Grenze dessen, wieviele Sprachen man überhaupt lernen kann?
2. Inwieweit sind die Behauptungen, wieviele Sprachen bestimmte Hyperpolyglots sprechen, plausibel?
3. Was können allgemeine Sprachenlerner von diesen Hyperpolyglots lernen?
4. Was kann man machen, damit die Menschen mehr Sprachen lernen?
5. Haben die Hyperpolyglots irgendwelche Merkmale, die sie von anderen Menschen unterscheiden?
6. Welche Lerntechniken haben die Hyperpolyglots?
7. Gibt es bestimmte Länder, in denen es ganz alltäglich ist, viele Sprachen zu sprechen?
8. Was kann man über das Gehirn von Hyperpolyglots herausfinden?
Ich denke mal, dass meine Aufzählung von Fragen nicht vollständig ist, aber das sind zum Beispiel Themen, die in diesem Buch erörtert werden. Wer gerne darüber Erkenntisse gewinnen will, sollte "Babel No More" am besten selbst lesen.
Mein Hauptinteresse an diesem Buch gilt den Berichten über die jetzt lebenden Hyperpolyglots. Einer davon, der Schwede Eric Gunnemark, war bereits mit dem Verfassen eines Buches "Polyglottery Today" beschäftigt, ist aber leider so früh verstorben, dass er sein Werk nicht mehr vollenden konnte.
Da das Buch erst im Januar 2012 In den USA veröffentlicht wurde, gibt es (Stand März 2012) noch keine deutsche Übersetzung davon.
1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Format:Kindle Edition
Ich möchte hier nicht den Inhalt des Buches besprechen, sondern darauf aufmerksam machen, dass die Kindle-Ausgabe keine Endnoten-Auszeichnung hat. Das die Endnoten sind zwar dabei, allerdings gibt es keinen Marker, wo die Endnoten im Text hingehören. Die Fußnoten - die es auch gibt - sind korrekt angegeben. Das finde ich ziemlich unpassend für ein Buch wie dieses, das zwar eher populärwissenschaftlich ist, aber doch eine Menge Informationen enthält, auch wenn man weiter zu dem Thema lesen will. Es ist also nur sehr eingeschränkt möglich, die Quellen nachzuverfolgen und sie weiter zu verfolgen. Ich war doch etwas verärgert, als ich das bemerkt habe. Dann doch lieber die Printausgabe.
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Wonderful book for language geeks, but needed more work
17. Januar 2012
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
Erard's book "Babel No More" is about hyperpolyglots, defined arbitrarily by the author as anyone knowing six or more languages. Many characters appear along the way. For example, Cardinal Mezzofanti, a 19th Century Italian Prelate who knew dozens of lanaguages, to modern day South Indians who use multiple tongues on a daily basis, to modern Europeans who have apparently learned numerous languages.
Babel No More is original, being the first book I have found that deals with hyperpolyglots as individuals, how people can master many languages, how the brains of hyperpolyglots are different from others and several other related topics. Of course, numerous books have dealt with each of the covered topics in far more detail, but Erard brought them all together in a book accessible to the lay reader.
It was clear from early on that the book would have benefitted from more work and research by Erard. The book starts off with the author at a library in Bologna, Italy, doing research on Mezzofanti. Erard then makes clear that he doesn't know Italian or much of anything about most of the languages he sees in Mezzofanti's archives. I'm less than clear about how much the author hoped to gain by conducting archival research on materials in languages he didn't know, and even worse, that he didn't try to get translated. He comes across materials in native American languages and rather than trying to determine what level of linguistic competence Mezzofanti was demonstrating in them (such as by contacting an Algonquin scholar), Erard just moves on. Later, he describes the polyglot Emil Krebs as having learned "Altarmenisch." The word is German for Classical Armenian, which Erard could have easily found with a few seconds worth of research. Yet he leaves the word "Altarmenisch" in, leaving the reader to wonder where in the world it is (or was) spoken.
Erard went to South India and discusses the situation there with people being multilingual. But beyond describing the "Sprachbund" there and the similar grammatical features among the languages, Erard does not get into any serious discussion about the mechanics of how people there learn multiple languages. He briefly discusses other places where hyperpolyglots exist (e.g. parts of Africa and South America) where people tend to know many languages, but again, the processes involved in learning them aren't addressed. The book is rather Western-centric.
Erard also seemed unable or unwilling to take a firm stance on what level of linguistic competence would count as "knowing" a language and then judge how many languages a person knew. Many such criteria are discussed, and people's linguistic competency described, but never does Erard state unequivocally that pursuant to a set of criteria, e.g. EU or US government linguist ratings, X speaks more languages than anyone else. The author could have tried to have native speakers of languages test some of the present day hyperpolyglots to reach his own conclusions on how good they are, and to determine just how many languages a person can truly master.
While the book could have earned a fifth star from me with more research and effort by Erard, I still enjoyed reading the book and recommend it for anyone who is an aspiring hyperpolyglot, loves learning languages, or is generally interested in linguistics.
Babel No More is original, being the first book I have found that deals with hyperpolyglots as individuals, how people can master many languages, how the brains of hyperpolyglots are different from others and several other related topics. Of course, numerous books have dealt with each of the covered topics in far more detail, but Erard brought them all together in a book accessible to the lay reader.
It was clear from early on that the book would have benefitted from more work and research by Erard. The book starts off with the author at a library in Bologna, Italy, doing research on Mezzofanti. Erard then makes clear that he doesn't know Italian or much of anything about most of the languages he sees in Mezzofanti's archives. I'm less than clear about how much the author hoped to gain by conducting archival research on materials in languages he didn't know, and even worse, that he didn't try to get translated. He comes across materials in native American languages and rather than trying to determine what level of linguistic competence Mezzofanti was demonstrating in them (such as by contacting an Algonquin scholar), Erard just moves on. Later, he describes the polyglot Emil Krebs as having learned "Altarmenisch." The word is German for Classical Armenian, which Erard could have easily found with a few seconds worth of research. Yet he leaves the word "Altarmenisch" in, leaving the reader to wonder where in the world it is (or was) spoken.
Erard went to South India and discusses the situation there with people being multilingual. But beyond describing the "Sprachbund" there and the similar grammatical features among the languages, Erard does not get into any serious discussion about the mechanics of how people there learn multiple languages. He briefly discusses other places where hyperpolyglots exist (e.g. parts of Africa and South America) where people tend to know many languages, but again, the processes involved in learning them aren't addressed. The book is rather Western-centric.
Erard also seemed unable or unwilling to take a firm stance on what level of linguistic competence would count as "knowing" a language and then judge how many languages a person knew. Many such criteria are discussed, and people's linguistic competency described, but never does Erard state unequivocally that pursuant to a set of criteria, e.g. EU or US government linguist ratings, X speaks more languages than anyone else. The author could have tried to have native speakers of languages test some of the present day hyperpolyglots to reach his own conclusions on how good they are, and to determine just how many languages a person can truly master.
While the book could have earned a fifth star from me with more research and effort by Erard, I still enjoyed reading the book and recommend it for anyone who is an aspiring hyperpolyglot, loves learning languages, or is generally interested in linguistics.
27 von 31 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
One Lives a New Life for Every New Language One Speaks
23. Januar 2012
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Michael Erard sets himself the goal to untangle the myths, history, and science surrounding what he calls the hyper-polyglots. Mr. Erard defines the hyper-polyglot as a person who can speak (or can use in reading, writing, or translating) at least eleven languages (p. 12). The author initially chose Dick Hudson's definition of the hyper-polyglot, i.e., a person who can speak (or can use in reading, writing, or translating) six or more languages. Mr. Hudson, a British linguist, has found that community-based multilingualism, where people, not just special individuals, speak many languages, has a ceiling of five languages (pp. 12; 23-24; 47; 68; 104; 189).
Unfortunately, Mr. Erard's prose wanders too aimlessly. The author summarizes his findings about hyper-polyglottery in eight recommendations that he articulates in chapter 19 (pp. 260-265). As a multilingual native originally from Belgium, I did not find all these recommendations practical. Think for example about the next three recommendations:
1. "If you want to improve at languages, you should manage your dopamine."
2. "If you want to promote brain plasticity, you should find flow."
3. "If you want to improve at languages, you should build executive function and working memory skills."
(American) readers will have to look elsewhere in Mr. Erard's book to figure out what it takes to become a bilingual, multilingual, polyglot ... or a hyper-polyglot.
1. Language learning is not easy and takes hard work, pushing (successful) language learners to use their time efficiently (pp. 115; 141; 268-269).
2. What makes someone a successful language learner is interest driven by motivation, perseverance, and diligence. Instant gratification has no place in this equation (pp. 84; 103; 122; 142; 163; 180; 241).
3. Efficient language learners do not feel embarrassed with their accent, body language, intonation, and pitch. Otherwise, they would be blocked from the start from achieving much (p. 238).
4. The three pillars of language learning are concentration, repetition, and practice (p. 100).
5. One learns grammar from language, not language from grammar (p. 103).
6. The way most people usually learn a language, in a traditional classroom, does not provide a conducive setting for language acquisition. Infants do not learn their native language in this way (pp. 86; 100; 128).
7. Multilingualism is about context and need, and those together engender a cultural confidence about learning languages that is hard to replicate (pp. 18; 204-206; 210; 251).
8. Hard work is not solely central to success. Some people really have a predisposition for learning languages or are better equipped than other people (pp. 8; 14; 33; 134; 137; 139; 151; 160; 164; 168-169; 209; 212; 220-221; 232; 234; 239; 243; 252; 255).
9. Brain, culture, and individual biography interact with each other to produce a hyper-polyglot (p. 242).
10. Being intelligible and clear is more important in language learning than being "native." Furthermore, speaking like a native is not as important for English, the world's current lingua franca, as for less widespread languages. Even English native speakers will have to tolerate and learn that English can be spoken and written in many ways (pp. 123; 180-181; 211; 251; 261).
11. Cultural blindness, social inertia, and political inaction stand in the way of language learning in a country like the U.S. Once monolingualism is the genome of a culture, it is hard to breed out. Interacting with native speakers of the target language is key to overcoming these obstacles (pp. 18; 72; 206; 261).
As a side note, learning at least another language is apparently not without some health benefits. It may protect people from the effects of cognitive aging (p. 140).
In summary, Mr. Erard could have done a better job in showing the respective roles of nature and nurture in the language learning process.
Unfortunately, Mr. Erard's prose wanders too aimlessly. The author summarizes his findings about hyper-polyglottery in eight recommendations that he articulates in chapter 19 (pp. 260-265). As a multilingual native originally from Belgium, I did not find all these recommendations practical. Think for example about the next three recommendations:
1. "If you want to improve at languages, you should manage your dopamine."
2. "If you want to promote brain plasticity, you should find flow."
3. "If you want to improve at languages, you should build executive function and working memory skills."
(American) readers will have to look elsewhere in Mr. Erard's book to figure out what it takes to become a bilingual, multilingual, polyglot ... or a hyper-polyglot.
1. Language learning is not easy and takes hard work, pushing (successful) language learners to use their time efficiently (pp. 115; 141; 268-269).
2. What makes someone a successful language learner is interest driven by motivation, perseverance, and diligence. Instant gratification has no place in this equation (pp. 84; 103; 122; 142; 163; 180; 241).
3. Efficient language learners do not feel embarrassed with their accent, body language, intonation, and pitch. Otherwise, they would be blocked from the start from achieving much (p. 238).
4. The three pillars of language learning are concentration, repetition, and practice (p. 100).
5. One learns grammar from language, not language from grammar (p. 103).
6. The way most people usually learn a language, in a traditional classroom, does not provide a conducive setting for language acquisition. Infants do not learn their native language in this way (pp. 86; 100; 128).
7. Multilingualism is about context and need, and those together engender a cultural confidence about learning languages that is hard to replicate (pp. 18; 204-206; 210; 251).
8. Hard work is not solely central to success. Some people really have a predisposition for learning languages or are better equipped than other people (pp. 8; 14; 33; 134; 137; 139; 151; 160; 164; 168-169; 209; 212; 220-221; 232; 234; 239; 243; 252; 255).
9. Brain, culture, and individual biography interact with each other to produce a hyper-polyglot (p. 242).
10. Being intelligible and clear is more important in language learning than being "native." Furthermore, speaking like a native is not as important for English, the world's current lingua franca, as for less widespread languages. Even English native speakers will have to tolerate and learn that English can be spoken and written in many ways (pp. 123; 180-181; 211; 251; 261).
11. Cultural blindness, social inertia, and political inaction stand in the way of language learning in a country like the U.S. Once monolingualism is the genome of a culture, it is hard to breed out. Interacting with native speakers of the target language is key to overcoming these obstacles (pp. 18; 72; 206; 261).
As a side note, learning at least another language is apparently not without some health benefits. It may protect people from the effects of cognitive aging (p. 140).
In summary, Mr. Erard could have done a better job in showing the respective roles of nature and nurture in the language learning process.
11 von 12 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
SuperHyperMultiPolyglots
17. Januar 2012
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
With memories of failing college French, mangling German in Berlin, and being unable to even hear the critical difference in some letters in Polish, I was looking forward to Michael Erard's Babel No More, a book about successful language learners.
Erard takes an already interesting topic and makes it a little more irresistible by turning it into a multi-faceted mystery. Are the occasional reports of super linguists, people who learn languages with ease and speak dozens, true or are they urban myths? Are there any of these hyperpolyglots, as he calls them, alive today? If they exist, is there something we can learn from them, some secret language-learning method that will make sad uniglots like me potential hyperpolyglots?
Erard sets out to verify or debunk the story of a 19th century Italian who was supposed to have spoken over fifty languages and learned new languages in weeks. From there he tracks down and meets some current-day polyglots and starts to find some unexpected and disturbing similarities. Most of the self-identified polyglots are men, many are left-handed, and quite a few seem to exhibit some autistic tendencies. Erard is reluctant to make too much of these similarities, yet he can't explain them away either.
And then there's the most vexing problem - what does it mean to speak a language, or to know a language? Does it mean with native fluency? With ease? Able to get by? Everyone has a different standard and this makes it hard to compare or group these hyperpolyglots in any meaningful way.
Erard is best when he is interviewing the polyglots and finding out how they learn languages. When he gets into the science of learning languages and especially neurophysiology and brain imaging, it just serves to remind us how little we know about our own brains. In the end, we learn that the superhyperpolymultiglots learn languages in much the same way everyone does, with regular practice, a disciplined method, and a lot of self-motivation.
Erard takes an already interesting topic and makes it a little more irresistible by turning it into a multi-faceted mystery. Are the occasional reports of super linguists, people who learn languages with ease and speak dozens, true or are they urban myths? Are there any of these hyperpolyglots, as he calls them, alive today? If they exist, is there something we can learn from them, some secret language-learning method that will make sad uniglots like me potential hyperpolyglots?
Erard sets out to verify or debunk the story of a 19th century Italian who was supposed to have spoken over fifty languages and learned new languages in weeks. From there he tracks down and meets some current-day polyglots and starts to find some unexpected and disturbing similarities. Most of the self-identified polyglots are men, many are left-handed, and quite a few seem to exhibit some autistic tendencies. Erard is reluctant to make too much of these similarities, yet he can't explain them away either.
And then there's the most vexing problem - what does it mean to speak a language, or to know a language? Does it mean with native fluency? With ease? Able to get by? Everyone has a different standard and this makes it hard to compare or group these hyperpolyglots in any meaningful way.
Erard is best when he is interviewing the polyglots and finding out how they learn languages. When he gets into the science of learning languages and especially neurophysiology and brain imaging, it just serves to remind us how little we know about our own brains. In the end, we learn that the superhyperpolymultiglots learn languages in much the same way everyone does, with regular practice, a disciplined method, and a lot of self-motivation.
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