3 More Books

After depositing two checks at the bank, I dropped in a Starbucks and finished “The Language Instinct” there. In the “The Language Instinct Today” part attached at the end of the book, Pinker writes, “The evidence that young brains are better than older brains at learning and creating language has been piling up in the last dozen years, and there is evidence for a gradual decline in the ability to master an accent beginning as young as two. Neuroimaging studies suggest that a second language acquired in childhood is processed in the brain in a different way than a second language acquired in adulthood: in the former case, the two languages completely overlap; in the latter, they stake out distinct adjacent regions. (pp. 16-17)

Coming to Orchard, I searched for Pinker’s “Word and Rules” at Borders. Failing that, I moved on to Ngee Ann City to look for it at Kinokuniya. Again I could not find the book. Instead, I got his “How the Mind Works” and “The Blank Slate” and also “Sin and Syntax” by Constance Hale.

In the meantime, Henry Kissinger’s “White House Years” is resting on the shelf.