There have recently been two developments in mapping the neurology of the brain which have important implications for the teaching and learning of a second language. In the first, research has shown that a second language occupies its own space in the brain, separate from the first. In the second development, it has been demonstrated that as soon as a baby is born, it begins to assimilate the sounds of its native language.

Using an electronic scanner to locate brain activity, research among bilingual speakers has shown that when they speak one language, brain activity is in one place, and when they speak the second, brain activity takes place in another. The research confirms the theory upon which efficient language-learners have always based their studies: that it is far more efficient and quicker to learn a second language when it is separated as much as possible from the first. Now we know that the languages are neurologically separate within the brain, we can make decisions with greater certainty about the best way to become proficient.

The second development was reported in Newsweek (February 19, 1997), as follows:

"Before there are words, in the world of a newborn, there are sounds. In English they are phonemes such as sharp ba's and da's, drawn-out ee's and ll's and ssss's. In Japanese they are different--barked hi's merged rr/ll's. When a child hears a phoneme over and over, neurons from his ear stimulate the formation of dedicated connections in his brain's auditory cortex. This ‘perceptual map,' explains Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, reflects the apparent distance--and thus the similarity--between sounds. So in English-speakers, neurons in the brain that respond to ‘ra'" lie far from those that respond to ‘la'. But for Japanese, where the sounds are nearly identical, neurons that respond to ‘ra' are practically intertwined, like spaghetti, with those for ‘la'. As a result, a Japanese-speaker will have trouble distinguishing the two sounds.

Researchers find evidence of these tendencies across many languages. By 6 months of age, Kuhl reports, infants in English-speaking homes already have different auditory maps (as shown by electrical measurements that identify which neurons respond to different sounds) from those in Swedish-speaking homes. Children are functionally deaf to sounds absent from their native tongue. The map is completed by the first birthday. ‘By 12 months,' says Kuhl , ‘infants have lost the ability to discriminate sounds that are not significant in their language, and the babbling has acquired the sound of their language.'

Kuhl's findings help explain why learning a second language after, rather than with, the first is so difficult. ‘The perceptual map of the first language constrains the learning of a second,' she says. In other words, the circuits are already wired for Spanish, and the remaining undedicated neurons have lost their ability to form basic new connections for, say Greek. A child taught a second language after the age of 10 or so is unlikely ever to speak it like a native. Kuhl's work also suggests why related languages such as Spanish and French are easier to learn than unrelated ones: more of the existing circuits can do double duty."

Both of these experiments confirm what has been known in theory. They support those who have insisted that teaching a language by the direct method is preferable to teaching it by translation. Most of all, they make sense of the idea of language as an operating system, not as a system of knowledge in itself. Language as an operating system begins as a concatenation of sound, and is to that extent subconscious and random and irrational. Phonemes have no intellectual content. Absorbing them takes not thought but only time and a degree of motivation as high as that of a hungry infant.

What, then, is the preferred method of learning a new language? Firstly, forget the old. Bury yourself in the community speaking the language you want to learn, as far away from any contact with your old language as possible. Secondly, take time to learn the songs and music and poetry of the language you wish to absorb. Thirdly, relax, and let your neurons do their job. Fourthly, do not be concerned about meaning, because if you worry about meaning you will be forced to return to your old language. Fifthly, accept the fact that for the first six months, your ability to communicate in your new language will be primitive, and that what you have to do is to concentrate on meeting people and listening well and speaking well.

Do this, and within one year, you may not be bilingual, but you will be extremely proficient in the language of your choice. Your main problem will lie, not in learning the new language, but in forgetting the old. For a variety of reasons language students cling to the security of what they know: the pronunciation and usage of their own tongue, of which they are the prisoners.

Certain rules will make life a little easier for the language student:

1. Never use a first language-English dictionary to find out the meaning of a word.
2. Never worry about the meaning of a word you don't know.
3. Listen, don't look.
4. Read English aloud daily for 15 minutes.
5. Learn all the words in a phrase, not single words.
6. Repeat everything.
7. Review what you have learnt at intervals.
8. Talk to yourself - aloud or mentally - in English.
9. Learn the poetry and sing the songs.

And, lastly, a matter of psychology. Take an interest in the culture of the country and develop a hobby connected with the language.