According to the Daily Mail on Wednesday, researchers at Bath University conducted an experiment on 50 Germans to find out the correlation between drinking and their foreign language skills. All of them had experience in learning Dutch.
The research team provided the participants with a small amount of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages and then asked them to have a conversation in Dutch. The results confirmed that the group who drank alcohol spoke more accurately in pronunciation.
The researchers explained that alcohol helps improve foreign language fluency by reducing language anxiety. The study was selected as the winner of this year’s Ig Nobel Peace Prize.
The Ig Nobel Prize is held annually at Harvard University in the United States and is presented for original research that makes you laugh and think deeply at the same time. It expands to a variety of topics such as agriculture, nutrition, and biology, as well as academic fields similar to the Nobel Prize such as physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and psychology.
Dr. Ine Kersbergen, the head of the study, said, “I’m glad the pleasant experiment has been recognized. It reminds me that science is both serious and enjoyable.” “Sometimes simple questions provide surprising insights into human behavior,” he added.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
