“If you want big improvements, she said, chew gum. Gum? Sure enough, chewing gum has been shown to improve a person's immediate recall of learned words by some 24 percent. Long-term recall improves by a larger 36 percent. To get the benefit, you actually have to chew gum as you are studying; for some reason you can't merely move your jaw up and down. I also discovered that drinking sage tea increases one's recall of words modestly, as does the odor of rosemary. Something as mundane as coffee provides a benefit, too. Drinking two cups of coffee increases neuronal activity in the frontal lobe, where working memory is controlled, and in the anterior cingulum, where attention is controlled.” MemoryGumLanguage Learning Book:Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners Source: Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners
“Every man of average capability can learn any foreign language within a month, and whoever fails is a lazy or stupid fellow.” Learn Language Book:Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners Source: Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners
“Hyperpolyglots are not born, and they are not made, but they are born to be made. There is a finite subset of the human population which has the right neurological equipment for learning and using lots of languages. That equipment may serve only a sub-component of language learning, such as mimicry, pattern recognition, or memory, or it serves those sub-components in a global fashion.” LanguageMemoriesFashionRecognition Author:Michael Erard
“Those who become hyperpolyglots are those who meet two criteria. One, they are exposed to language material. Two, they undertake learning languages as a mission as well as acquiring the personal identity as a language learner.I describe the "neural tribe theory" of hyperpolyglots, arguing that they possess an atypical neurology that is selected by some environments and not others; presumably, there have always been humans walking around with that set of neurological traits or factors, only some of whom actually use those things for languages.” LanguageEnvironmentIdentityWalkingArguingTraits Author:Michael Erard
“The globalized environment where speaking a lot of languages is rewarded and getting access to learning materials is easier. A talent for massive language learning has not been supported by the environment until very recently, so this is a phenomenon that is going to become more common and more visible.” LanguageCommonEnvironmentTalentPhenomenon Author:Michael Erard