評(píng)論
打印
Don:It's time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag...
唐：又到了《科學(xué)時(shí)刻》讀信時(shí)間了......
Yael:A listener writes: Dear AMOS, Why can some people learn a new language easily but others struggle?
雅艾爾：一位聽眾來信：親愛的《科學(xué)時(shí)刻》欄目組，為什么有人很輕松就能學(xué)好一門外語，而有些人卻要拼命努力呢？
Don:Good question! How many languages do you speak, Yael?
唐：好問題！雅艾爾，你能說幾種語言？
Yael:Four.
雅艾爾：4種。
Don:Really?!
唐：真的？
Yael:Yep—English, Canadian, British, and Australian.
雅艾爾：是的——美式英語，加拿大式英語，英式英語還有澳大利亞式英語。
Don:Ha ha. Very funny.
唐：哈哈。太有趣了。
Yael:Sorry. But really, I'm terrible at languages. But I have a friend who speaks like five. She'll travel some place and within a few weeks, it seems, she's asking for directions and having conversations in a completely new language.
雅艾爾：對(duì)不起。但是，我在語言方面很差。不過，我有一位朋友能說差不多5種語言。她學(xué)習(xí)的方法就是到處旅行，用完全陌生的語言問路，與人交談。
Don:That could be because she has a large Heschl's Gyrus.
唐：那是因?yàn)樗娘D橫回較大的緣故。
Yael:What?
雅艾爾：什么？
Don:Heschl's Gyrus—it's a brain structure about the size of a finger—one in the brain's left side, one in the right. And scientists think that the bigger your left Heschl's Gyrus, the greater your chances of being good at learning languages.
唐：顳橫回——一種手指般大小的腦部結(jié)構(gòu)——分布于大腦左右側(cè)。科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為右邊的顳橫回較左邊大時(shí)，你就越有可能學(xué)好一門外語。
Yael:Huh—is that because the Heschl's Gyrus plays an important role in how the brain processes language or something?
雅艾爾：啊——是因?yàn)榇竽X在處理語言或其它事物時(shí)，其中顳橫回扮演了很重要的角色嗎？
Don:Actually, no. Heschl's Gyrus is usually associated with the basics of sound processing, like pitch and volume. But it's not directly connected to speech.
唐：實(shí)際上不是這樣。顳橫回通常與處理基本的聲音元素有聯(lián)系，比如說音高與音量。但是與言語沒有直接關(guān)系。
Yael:But wait—are you saying that if I happen to have a small left Heschl's Gyrus I can't learn a new language?
雅艾爾：但是等等——你是說如果我碰巧有較小的右側(cè)顳橫回，那我就學(xué)不了一門新語言？
Don:Not at all. It might just mean that you learn languages differently. And, sure, it could mean that you don't learn new languages as easily as someone with a larger Heschl's Gyrus. But you can still learn.
唐：也不能這么想。只能說在你學(xué)習(xí)過程中會(huì)遇到一定的困難。當(dāng)然，相比顳橫回較大的人，肯定不如他們?nèi)菀住５悄氵€是可以學(xué)會(huì)的。
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