Those lasting benefits are a stark contrast to the failure of most commercial “brain training” games you can
download – which generally fail to offer long-term improvements in memory or attention.
Learning a new language as we age is easier than you might assume
Until recently, however, many neuroscientists had suggested that most of us are too old to reach native-like
fluency in a fresh language; according to the “critical period hypothesis”, there is a narrow window during
childhood in which we can pick up the nuances of a new language. Yet Bialystok’s research suggests this may
have been exaggerated; rather than a steep precipice, she has found that there is a very slight decline in our
abilities as we age.
Certainly, many of the hyperglots I meet in Berlin have mastered languages later in life. Keeley grew up in
Florida, where he was exposed to native Spanish speakers at school. As a child, he used to tune into foreign
radio stations – despite not being able to understand a word. “It was like music to me,” he says. But it was only
as an adult that he started travelling the world – first to Colombia, where he also studied French, German and
Portuguese at college. He then moved on to Switzerland and Eastern Europe before heading to Japan. He now
speaks at least 20 languages fluently, almost all of which were learnt as an adult. “The critical period
hypothesis is a bunch of crap,” he says.
The question is, how do hyperglots master so many new tongues – and could the rest of us try to emulate
them? True, they may just be more motivated than most. Many, like Keeley, are globe-trotters who have
moved from country to country, picking up languages as they go. It’s sometimes a case of sink or swim.
Yet even with the best intentions, many of us struggle to speak another language convincingly. Keeley, who is
currently writing a book on the “social, psychological and affective factors in becoming multilingual”, is
sceptical that it’s simply a question of raw intelligence. “I don’t think it’s a major factor, although it does
make it faster to have the analytical ability,” he says.