Babel no more
by Michael Erard · first published 2012
4mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2017–2019first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% critical
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Anyone interested in this might enjoy reading about Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti[1] and other "hyperpolyglots" in Michael Erard's Babel No More.[2] An excerpt from the Introduction: "...Mezofanti liked to quip that he knew 'fifty languages and Bolognese.' During his lifetime, he put enough of those on display -- among them Arabic and Hebrew…
on “The Vatican's Latinist” ↗Anyone interested in this might enjoy reading about Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti[1] and other "hyperpolyglots" in Michael Erard's Babel No More.[2] An excerpt from the Introduction: "...Mezofanti liked to quip that he knew 'fifty languages and Bolognese.' During his lifetime, he put enough of those on display -- among them Arabic and Hebrew…
on “On Living and Thinking in Two Languages at Once” ↗…among other personal details, including their I.Q.s (which were above average). Nearly half spoke at least seven languages, and seventeen qualified as hyperpolyglots. The distillation of this research, “Babel No More,” published in 2012, is an essential reference book—in its way, an ethnography of what Erard calls a “neural tribe.” The answer is IQ. I knew that before even reading the article. Same for speed reading,…
on “The Mystery of People Who Speak Dozens of Languages” ↗I just finished Babel No More[1] and everything in the books goes completely against this article: [1] https://www.amazon.com/Babel-No-More-Extraordinary-Language/...
on “It’s Hard to Learn French in Middle Age” ↗