評論
打印
You know that feeling when you get tongue-tied, and words come out as a jumbled mess?
你知道舌頭打結，話說不明朗的那種感覺嗎?
Maybe you forget a word, or have mushy grammar, or your pronunciation is all wrong.
也許你忘了要說什么，或者語法混亂，或者發音錯誤。
There are a lot of things to keep track of!
有很多原因！
It seems like learning one language would be hard enough for babies,
對寶寶來說，進食和嘔吐已經是個折磨
who already have trouble eating and not spitting up everywhere.
學習一種語言似乎對他們來說夠難了
But research has shown that infants are a lot more capable than you might think, especially when it comes to language.
但研究表明，寶寶比你想象的有能力的多，尤其是在語言方面。
In fact, a lot of babies from bilingual families grow up fluent in both languages.
事實上，許多雙語家庭的寶寶在兩種語言的環境下成長的很好。
Many psychologists think language is what's called an innate ability,
許多心理學家認為語言是天生的，
or something we're born knowing how to do, like grasping objects and sucking on things.
或者說生來就知道怎么去做的事情，比如抓東西和吸東西，
Classic cute baby stuff!
寶寶太可愛了！
So right from the start, babies are primed to learn a language – any language.
所以從一開始，寶寶就蓄勢待發，時刻準備著學習一門語言——任何語言
Most of us adults have trouble hearing subtle inflections in foreign languages.
我們大多數成年人聽不懂外語的詞形變化。
Like, if you only speak English, it might be hard for you to hear the difference between certain sounds in Thai or Russian.
比如，如果你只會英語，你可能很難聽懂泰語或俄語中某些聲音的區別。
But in their first few months of being alive, babies can tell really similar sounds apart.
但寶寶在生下來的頭幾個月能分辨出非常相似的聲音。
To figure this out, lots of researchers have done studies where they pick a sound from a foreign language
為了找清楚原因，很多研究人員都做過這樣的研究：挑選一種外語聲音，
and play it on loop for babies around four months old.
然后，對4個月大的寶寶進行循環播放。
When the babies lose interest, the researchers switch to a new, similar sound.
當寶寶失去興趣，研究人員新播放一種類似的聲音
Usually, these really young infants notice the difference and perk up somehow, like by looking around or sucking harder on a pacifier.
通常情況下，這些寶寶會注意到其中的差別，且表現的比較亢奮，比如環顧四周，或者使勁吮吸奶嘴。
But if scientists repeat this experiment around eight months later,
但是如果8個月后科學家們重復這個實驗，
one-year-old babies typically ignore the second sound because they don't notice a difference.
一歲大的寶寶通常忽略第二種聲音，因為他們沒有注意兩種聲音的區別。
That's probably because as they get older, their brain cells make connections that help them focus on the sounds of their native language,
這可能是因為隨著年齡的增長，腦細胞建立連接，幫助他們專注于母語的發聲，
and they get rid of unused connections related to recognizing other sounds.
且未使用的，與其他聲音識別有關的連接就會被消除。
So, by the time an infant is one year old, its brain is already focusing on learning whatever language it's been exposed to most.
寶寶在一歲的時候，大腦已經開始專注學習平日里接觸最多的語言。
And, surprisingly, babies don't need any special training to be bilingual!
而且，出乎意料的是，寶寶不需要接受任何特殊訓練就能學會兩種語言！
But they need equal exposure to both languages.
但他們接觸兩種語言的機會得是一樣的。
Now, you might have heard that bilingual kids develop more slowly than their monolingual counterparts,
你可能聽說過，雙語孩子比單語孩子發育得慢
or are more likely to have speech delays.
或者雙語孩子比單語孩子更有可能晚說話。
But, according to the research, that's just not true!
但是，根據研究結果，這種說法是不正確的！
That even applies to babies who grow up with one spoken and one signed language –
這甚至也適用于在口語和手語環境中長大的寶寶，
like English and American Sign Language.
比如英語和美國手語，
As they get older, these kids keep their languages separate thanks to their awesome perception skills.
隨著年齡的增長，這些孩子因為感知能力的不同，語言能力也會有所不同。
Just by watching faces and listening to verbal patterns,
孩子在三歲的時候，僅僅通過觀察面部表情和聆聽語言交際模式，
they're able to figure out when they should be speaking which language by around the time they're three years old.
就知道什么時候應該說哪種語言。
And when they intentionally switch from speaking one language to another,
有意切換使用兩種語言，
like talking to their friends in English but to their mom in Cantonese, that's called code-switching.
比如和朋友用英語，和媽媽用粵語，我們稱之為代碼轉換。
Now, even though monolingual and bilingual babies develop at the same rate,
如今，盡管單語和雙語寶寶的發育速度相同，
one study from the University of Washington suggests that their brains process language a little differently.
但華盛頓大學的一項研究表明，單語和雙語寶寶的大腦處理語言的方式略有不同。
Psychologists used electroencephalograms, also known as EEGs,
心理學家使用腦電圖
to detect electric brain activity in some six-month-old monolingual and bilingual babies as they played recordings of speech sounds in English and Spanish.
來檢測播放英語和西班牙語的語音錄音時6個月大的單語和雙語寶寶的腦電圖
Babies in EEG caps? Super adorable.
寶寶戴著腦電圖帽？超級可愛的。
They found that monolingual babies caused a spike on the EEG whenever a mismatched sound popped up,
他們發現，每當出現不匹配的聲音時，
like a Spanish sound thrown in among a bunch of English sounds or vice versa, which means they noticed a difference.
比如一連串的英語夾雜著西班牙語，單語寶寶的腦電圖上有一個尖峰，這意味著他們注意到了不同。
But bilingual baby brains didn't notice when the languages switched.
但是雙語寶寶的大腦并沒有注意到兩種語言的變化。
When the same babies were 10 to 12 months old, though, the results changed:
寶寶長至10~12個月大的時候，結果產生了變化
The monolingual baby brains only responded when a sound in their native language interrupted a string of foreign sounds.
當母語聲音收到一連串外語聲音的干擾，單語寶寶的大腦才會做出反應，
But not the other way around.
但雙語寶寶不是這樣。
And the bilingual babies went from not noticing a difference, to hearing both kinds of mismatches.
雙語寶寶從沒有注意到兩個聲音的差異到聽到兩種聲音不匹配。
According to the researchers, this means that monolingual baby brains seem to solidify connections faster,
研究人員表示，這意味著似乎單語寶寶的大腦鞏固連接，
to get ready to speak their primary language.
準備好說母語的速度更快。
But the bilingual baby brains stayed more flexible and didn't develop that wiring until later on.
但是雙語寶寶的腦袋更靈活，直到后來這條線路才被開發出來。
Turns out that this flexibility can have some developmental perks, too.
事實證明，這種靈活性也有好處。
One study published in the journal Science found that
發表在《科學》雜志上的一項研究發現，
bilingual babies may be better at learning rules and switching between them than monolingual babies.
和單語寶寶相比，雙語寶寶可能更擅長學習規則，在兩種語言規則中來回切換的能力更強。
In the study, one-year-old infants were taught that,
研究中，告訴一歲的寶寶：
when they heard a certain pattern of sounds, they should look at a specific spot on a screen to see a fun toy.
當聽到某種類型的聲音時，在屏幕的特定位置看到一個有趣的玩具。
When the psychologists changed the pattern and moved the toy picture,
當心理學家改變了這一模式，移動了玩具圖片的位置
the bilingual babies were better at figuring out the new rules and looking for the toy in the right places.
會說兩種語言的寶寶更善于發現新規則，會在正確的地方尋找玩具。
Multiple studies suggest that bilingual adults have similar benefits, like better focus and ability to switch between tasks,
多項研究表明，雙語成年人擁有的益處與之類似，比如專注力和任務間的切換能力會更好一些，
and even less cognitive decline when they get older.
且隨著年齡的增長，認知能力的下降較少。
But this doesn't mean all hope is lost if you're not bilingual – it's just one path a human brain can take.
但這并不意味著如果你不會說兩種語言，你就沒有這些能力，這只是針對人腦而言
Our brains are really powerful, and even when you were a tiny, adorable baby,
我們的大腦非常強大，甚至當你還是個可愛的小baby的時候，
you were a lot smarter than you might think!
你就比你想象的要聰明得多！
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看心理科學秀節目。
And special thanks to our patrons on Patreon who are helping us explain the human mind!
特別感謝Patreon對本節目的大力支持，
If you'd like to support the show, just go to patreon.com/scishow.
如果你想支持我們的節目，就訪問patreon.com/scishow吧。
And to be the first to see new episodes like this, be sure to visit youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe!
如果您想第一個看到我們的劇集，一定要訪問并訂閱youtube.com/scishowpsych哦！
