thinker.jpgWell, this explains a lot: A team of neuroscientists at MIT have published a study that suggests that trying harder to learn a foreign language can actually impede progress(!) That's right, the slacker in the baseball cap slouching in his seat in the back of the class of French class who's not even bothering to conceal his earbuds may be absorbing more then you, the diligent concentrator in the front row.

The researchers theorize that this is because (and I'm broadly paraphrasing here) our adult brains, in trying to take in too much, miss the big picture. But if you let yourself get a little distracted during lessons, you pick up more.

This "less is more" theory is not new, and in fact I discuss it at some length with one its proponents, neurolinguist Elissa Newport, in my new book Flirting with French, as well as in a recent op-ed in the NY Times, but this is the first time that scientists have tested the theory (using an artificial language) in a controlled environment.

For more details, there's a nice summary in Science Daily.

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