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IQ needed to be a hyperglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6551 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes  1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 153 of 164 01 June 2009 at 2:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There is a strong statistical correlation between high IQ and large language skills but that necessitates neither causality nor exclusivity.
And I posit that a multivariate analysis would show other primary factors like parental languages, location, education, income, etc... Edited by zenmonkey on 01 June 2009 at 2:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5846 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 154 of 164 01 June 2009 at 7:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
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To give an example: I had to do two IQ-tests and in both there weren't any foreign language learning skills tested. What was tested were for example my skills of German native spelling or my ability to analize the logical structures between groups of words. My opinon opinion after taking the IQ-tests was that I have a language talent which is not at all relevant for such tests. To mesure my language learning ability, I would have to take a kind of general language aptitude test, but I don't know, if such tests exist.
Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 01 June 2009 at 10:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 155 of 164 02 June 2009 at 3:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I was measured as having quite a high IQ at a mandatory test in school. My best friend had quite a bit lower IQ and was depressed about it but committed to make up for it with hard work.
However my friend was always much better at French than me and she also studied German which she was almost as good at. The reason was that she had much better study habits than me, she was better disciplined and motivated, and additionally she liked the French language and culture. Today she lives in Montreal and is very successful at what she does. The school was sooo wrong to test the kids in that way. IQ is only a small factor in whether a person is successful at what they do - there are plenty of other factors. Loads of people with high IQs fail miserably at their undertakings for various reasons! People with a higher IQs are often lazier and more arrogant, for starters, since they know that if they *really* try, they will succeed. The only trouble is, they never get around to *really trying*. Edited by cordelia0507 on 02 June 2009 at 3:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6271 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 156 of 164 03 June 2009 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A founder of Mensa was reported to have complained that Mensa members spend too much time solving puzzles and not enough time using their presumed brainpower to benefit humanity. The value of IQ tests has been questioned. But whether your IQ is 85 or 185, it is what you do with your abilities that counts, not the precise figure that is placed on them.
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| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6551 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 157 of 164 03 June 2009 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
The I was, she was, etc ... part shows a lack of understand of the statistical nature of the question. It isn't about individuals but about the cloud of experience over many different persons to see if a relationship exists... While it isn't likely the only factor, it certainly is not a small factor - a split value analysis of <90 vs >120 would clearly show it can be considered an important but not unique element. The last sentence is patently false and anti-intellectual to boot, it assumes intelligent people never really try - the colleges I went to and taught at clearly show this is not so. I guarantee you people tried hard. If you change the 'often' to 'sometimes' I would more likely agree. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7014 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 158 of 164 03 June 2009 at 4:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
They do exist. For example, US military personnel who want to study languages take the DLAB to determine what language they will study (no choice there!). Unfortunately, I haven't found any online versions.
Very true! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| GuardianJY Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5684 days ago 74 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian, Swedish, French | Message 159 of 164 03 June 2009 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
I fall into the last sentence. At least on really trying part. It's sort of a double-edged sword. The way most schools teach you is just spitting out information you've learned. Therefore, since people with higher IQ generally put less effort into learning things, it sets them into a process that leaves some of them with no work ethic (like me, but I am trying to change that). I also agree with the above statement that a high IQ doesn't necessarily determine "what" you can do (such as learning languages), but how easily you can learn how to do it. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| habadzi Super Polyglot Senior Member Greece Joined 5573 days ago 70 posts - 106 votes Speaks: Greek*, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Hindi, French, German, Italian, Ancient Greek, Modern Hebrew, Arabic (classical), Indonesian, Bengali, Albanian, Nepali | Message 160 of 164 30 August 2009 at 5:54am | IP Logged | |||||
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G surely matters in making decisions, classifying, memorizing. But it's not enough to determine language ability, and there is research on this issue.
It seems that individual abilities are related to the distribution of gray matter around various parts of the brain where the various skills reside. And for language, white matter matters, at least in the Heschl's gyrus. That part is responsible for perception of pitch in the tonal language but also speed of identifying small differences in pronuniation. See below. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8964-fast-language-lea rners-boast-more-white-matter.html Some of the polyglots who discuss their experiences here learn languages as exercises in discipline rather than tools for communication. Thus, they may be building on ability to memorize or on obsession rather on ability to identify tones fast and reproduce them. Edited by habadzi on 30 August 2009 at 5:58am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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