Background
I am a science writer based in the US who is writing a popular nonfiction book about language superlearners and the upper limit of the human ability to learn and speak languages. It will be titled Babel No More and published (in the US) by Henry Holt/Macmillan in 2010 or 2011. You can follow the book's progress at www.babelnomore.com and learn more about me at www.michaelerard.com.

In this survey, I am collecting information from people who do not have significant experience with a second/foreign language besides their mother tongue. Maybe you studied another language, but only starting in high school or later, and you would not consider yourself bilingual or multilingual. This information will be compared with the profiles of people who speak six or more languages. There are no right answers. There are no wrong answers. I appreciate your truthful answers and answering all of them.

The Survey
There are 6 pages with 28 (mainly yes/no) questions. On the last page you can write comments and suggestions.

IMPORTANT: You can leave the survey and return and finish it at any time, even if you have clicked the final "Done" button. I set it up this way so that you can revise your answers if you have further thoughts to add.

Currently, the test only has an English version. If you (or someone you know) would like to take it in some other language, please contact me here.

You can learn more about the survey, its goals, and its design here.

Results
I am interested in getting a broad picture of language users of all stripes and will use the results of this survey in my book. It may also appear in articles on language learning or extracts from the book. The raw data from questions that may uniquely identify individuals will not be published or released. If you are interested in receiving a summary of the results, please give me your email address here. To thank you for your participation, I will randomly choose the names of five people, each of whom will receive a copy of the book. To enter this drawing, please leave your email address here.

Confidentiality & Privacy
All the results of this survey are confidential. The survey software does not track IP addresses, and your email address is not tied to a specific survey. This will ensure that your answers are anonymous and confidential. The web form at www.babelnomore.com does track IP addresses, but it's impossible to connect them to a specific survey. I will not give or sell email addresses to any other individual or organization.

Consent
By clicking on "next" below, you are agreeing to participate according to the terms outlined above.