Cyber Heroes

"I can say that our ancestors have never died. The spark of their souls is thinking in our brains through daily language habits. Language and culture have always connected us with our ancestors. This connection is always more important than Blood is stronger."

When Ingrid said these words, it was one day in February 2029.

Xiang Shan just finished his vacation and returned from Peiping. He was holding a tablet in his hand and was reading the news.

Since the classification level of "Ramo Special Project" has been gradually lowered, some electronic equipment can already be brought into the park. Xiangshan didn't subscribe to news specifically, but the current chat software has its own news pop-up window. He occasionally glanced at me.

In the corner of the office area, Ingrid and Kanbaru were chatting with Yawgmoth.

Yawgmoth came here to ask questions about "Chinese".

"Hey, friends from the Republic over there?" Ingrid picked up a small ball of paper and threw it over: "This dear friend is here to learn your mother tongue, don't you want to say a few words?"

Xiangshan turned his attention away from the news article titled "The Republic is working in many ways to promote the establishment of the Pacific Rim Agricultural Community" and raised his hands: "I'm sorry, I am an engineering student. Inga [Inga, Ingrid] Ingrid's nickname] You are much better at this language than I am. I am very unprofessional in this area."

Due to a joint project currently underway, a group of linguists, including Ingrid, simply opened an office area in the Engineering Research Center to study "something" together.

Yawgmoth is using his spare time to learn Chinese on his own. Although the misunderstanding has long been resolved, according to Yawgmoth himself, learning this language was not because of Xiangshan's joke last year. He did have such an idea.

It should be said that he had thought this way several years ago. But I was busy with work at the time.

And now, with a group of colleagues who are native speakers of the language and some of the best linguists in the world, there's no reason not to seize this opportunity.

Since a year ago, he, Kanbaru Zun, and Xiangshan became the first batch of scholars to come into contact with "Ogun", so he also gained a little reputation among the scholar group. This seemed to open up Yawgmoth's social circle.

Of course, this is the same for Xiangshan.

And Ingrid has always been generous.

But Yawgmoth is still troubled: "I feel that my learning efficiency is too low. Although I have memorized many articles, I still feel that I cannot use this language freely."

Ingrid shrugged: "This is indeed a difficult question, Yog. Did you know that there are many second language learners who cannot use this second language as proficiently as their native language throughout their lives? , and some learners can achieve this level very easily.”

"Unfortunately, there is no statistically convincing enough survey to indicate the proportion of these two types of people in the population."

Having said this, Ingrid felt a little regretful: "This is really a pity. To be honest, there is really very little funding available in this field."

Kanbaru seemed to be touched and sad: "The travel expenses for field research are never enough..."

Linguistics is really the legendary "aristocratic profession". The investment is high, the output is low, and even if you don’t have any capital at home, it’s not enough to waste.

Yawgmoth did not follow the lead of the two linguists, but was thinking: "Is this difference caused by some kind of genetic expression? Is there any evidence that this 'second language acquisition ability' is hereditary?" "

Ingrid shrugged: "This is a question worth studying, but you also have to apply for funding."

Xiangshan closed the news window and raised his head again: "But not everyone needs a second language now..."

"No, the ultimate goal of our study of the process of second language acquisition is to infer how the 'first language' and 'mother tongue' are acquired by us. What it ultimately solves is the problem of the mechanism of 'language acquisition' itself. "

"From a purely linguistic perspective, it pursues 'universal grammar.' From a neuroscience perspective, it explores the brain's mechanism for inputting, storing, and processing information. And from a cultural perspective, it It includes the interaction between people and social culture.”

Ingrid took a sip of tea.

Kanbaru Takashi said: "But I still reserve my opinion on this point. I have investigated many ancient languages ​​in Africa, the area where humans originated. I cannot feel the 'universality' you mentioned from the process of learning these languages. Grammar'. There's always something you can't imagine in their language."

"Personal opinion." Ingrid raised her eyebrows: "Do you have any recommended papers? Yukoru-kun [タケル, the pronunciation of "Zun\