時差N小時:學(xué)習(xí)一門語言
唐：又到了《科學(xué)時刻》讀信時間了......
Yael:A listener writes: Dear AMOS, Why can somepeople learn a new language easily but othersstruggle?
雅艾爾：一位聽眾來信：親愛的《科學(xué)時刻》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 youspeak, 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'lltravel some place and within a few weeks, it seems, she's asking for directions and havingconversations in a completely new language.
雅艾爾：對不起。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：那是因為她的顳橫回較大的緣故。
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 leftside, one in the right. And scientists think that the bigger your left Heschl's Gyrus, the greateryour 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)家們認為右邊的顳橫回較左邊大時，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 brainprocesses language or something?
雅艾爾：啊——是因為大腦在處理語言或其它事物時，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, likepitch and volume. But it's not directly connected to speech.
唐：實際上不是這樣。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 anew 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 couldmean that you don't learn new languages as easily as someone with a larger Heschl's Gyrus. Butyou can still learn.
唐：也不能這么想。只能說在你學(xué)習(xí)過程中會遇到一定的困難。當然，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)會的。
