Dealing with a neuropsychologist, what is the difference between the brain of a polyglot and an ordinary person
A video from the program "Amazing People" (channel Russia) about 4-year-old Muscovite Bella Devyatkina, who speaks seven (!) Languages fluently, shocked the country. For 3 days on YouTube this video was watched by more than 1 million people.
Show "Amazing People". Bella Devyatkina. Polyglot
For the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens (including yours truly), who have not been able to learn one foreign language for 10 years at school, the phenomenon of a girl requires a scientific explanation. We turned to a neuropsychologist, candidate of science Annt Semenovich.
- Anna Vladimirovna, it is clear that from the very birth, several nannies-native speakers of the language are engaged with the girl. And, nevertheless, the audience is lost in conjectures: are we dealing with superpowers or can this be learned?
- If we viewers knew the culture and history of our country better, we would probably remember that in pre-revolutionary times, children also had bonnets and governesses. Of course, seven languages are many. But if a child in a decent noble family by the age of 5-6 did not know at least 3-4 languages, it was a shame to bring him out into the world. And in the gymnasium, Latin and ancient Greek were added to this set without fail. Thus, 5-6 languages is a standard, without any excesses, set of an educated young man in the 19th century. Remember "War and Peace", there huge volumes of text are given in foreign languages not because Tolstoy wanted to kill the schoolchildren who would study him. And because this is exactly what contemporaries from his circle said. They had no problems with foreign languages.
- So, about Bella's brilliant abilities …
- We will be able to speak in 15-20 years. You see, for success in adulthood, aptitude alone is not enough. The easiest way to explain this is by the example of musical talent. Many children have excellent hearing and voice. But then the voice breaks. Hearing remains, but a brilliant musician is not only the ability to feel music. It is also hard labor. And many more concomitant conditions must converge: talented teachers, a creative environment, an atmosphere of love and delight when you go about your business … I would like to wish this girl good luck in every possible way, but the audience must understand that the path of geniuses is thorny. That is why few reach the shining peaks.
Promotional video:
- Do polyglots have some special brain structure, unlike an ordinary person?
- Of course, they have a special organization of the brain, like any person who is endowed with supernormal abilities. For example, musicians have a developed right temporal region …
- And what area of the brain is developed among polyglots?
- There is another principle: they are distinguished by more active interaction of different areas of the brain. Because language is a very complex system - for a second, the ability to organize colloquial speech set us apart from the animal world! And depending on the language, different areas of the brain are activated. Because each language has its own phonetic characteristics, its own grammatical system and its own imagery. And in Chinese, for example, the lexical meaning of words depends on the tone of pronunciation, and this is a completely different song …
- So, a genius person can be determined by the special activity of neural connections in the brain?
- Yes, but how exactly should this connection be arranged? Humanity is still trying unsuccessfully to solve this riddle. Brains of brilliant people are studied with great enthusiasm all over the world. They say: this luminary has more of such a substance, while another laureate has a different proportion. But in my opinion, this is a dead-end path, because genius is each time a unique set of interactions between areas of the brain.
- Even moms in the comments to this video are groaning: will such loads at such a tender age adversely affect Bella's health?
- Usually mothers ask such questions when they want to get an indulgence so as not to do anything with their children. Like, look, what a relaxed and happy dunce I grow up with, and these very smart parents will soon memorize their girl to death … Listen, as I understand it, this girl looks cheerful?
- Absolutely.
- Well, thank God! You ask: can the child be hurt by the lessons? They can, if you chained him to a desk and put an evil aunt with a stick as an overseer. But if a girl receives languages through curiosity, if her parents skillfully organized classes as a game with knowledge, there will be nothing but benefit. She doesn't study, she plays!
Yaroslav KOROBATOV