What do an Italian cardinal, a Connecticut blacksmith, and a German diplomat have in common with an MIT linguist, a Hungarian translator, and a Scottish church organist? They were all "hyperpolyglots," "language superlearners," or "massive multilinguals."
In Babel No More, Michael Erard pins down what extraordinary language learners can do and how they do it. Part scientific detective story, part travelogue, part valentine to anyone who's ever studied a foreign language, Babel No More is the first book to ever answer the question, What is the upper limit of the human ability to learn, speak, and remember languages?
This website is a hyperpolyglot channel. Eventually it will carry info about the book, interviews with language superlearners and other hyperpolyglot hunters, videos, and audio pieces about this lost tribe, the neuroscience of speaking many languages, and the politics of multilingualism in a big (but shrinking) world.
To read the magazine article that started it all, go here.
To read the story of the book so far, go here.
