SLEEP: Learn a Language?

DAILY INSIGHT You know that old idea that you can learn a language if you hear it while you’re sleeping? New research published this year by scientists at the University of Bern in Switzerland says it might actually be true. The key is not just in listening to vocabulary while you’re asleep; but listening to it during the right stage of sleep. The researchers found that when the brain is going through slow waves during deep sleep, words that are played during the ‘up’ peak of a wave are more likely to be remember when awake. DAILY ACTION OK; we’re not saying you’ll be able to learn a whole new language in your sleep. But it’s possible that if you leave a recording on so that words are played to you when you’re in deep sleep (i.e. not just in the moments after you fall asleep) you might just absorb some of that new information. Have you ever tried to learn a language in your sleep?