Brainpower

I've recently discovered that there's been considerable research interest in how the brain processes languages. I guess this isn't really surprising, it just hadn't occurred to me before. For example, it seems that only the left side of the brain is needed to process the English language. This part of the brain appears to link sounds together to identify words. By contrast, both the right and left sides of the brain are needed to speak Mandarin; the right side of the brain is thought to process intonation, thus enabling the brain to interpret both sounds and tones into meaning (see this, for instance).

It's also thought that which language you learn in childhood influences the way your brain develops, which is apparently why English speakers find it difficult to learn Mandarin. It also raises interesting questions about whether people who speak different languages also have inherently different skills, depending on which parts of their brain are better developed, and presumably also explains why people who are dyslexic in one language aren't necessarily dyslexic in another.

I have also discovered (admittedly, this is based on observation rather than solid research) that some people speak without using their brain at all, although this is likely to be a redundant evolutionary trait that will eventually disappear through the process of natural selection. One can only hope...