For those of us who arent polyglots,learning multiple foreign languagesseems like a huge intellectual feat.
It is not just the amount of time spent learning and using the languages.
The quality of the time, in terms of emotional salience, is critical.
Indeed, that might explain why Keeley could switch so effortlessly between those 20-odd languages.
Everyone can listen and repeat, he says.
And you do the same with a language.
He also suggests looking carefully at things like facial expressions since they can be crucial to producing the sounds.
Speaking with slightly pouted lips instantly makes you sound a little bit more French, for instance.
When learning a new language, then, it seems that adopting different personas is good for you.
Be the Christian Bale of languages.
How to learn 30 languages| BBC
Photo byMinnesota Historical Society.
