Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Side 18

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Energy for life through forces of nature
with. I don’t have this with music, but I do have this
with words and numbers.
JM: Your ability isn’t just limited to arithmetic. You
also have a predilection for collecting languages. How
many do you speak now?
DT: Ten.
JM: Ten?!
DT: But my exposure to them varies and also how I
get to use them. My French is good because I learned
it in school. My German is okay, but it doesn’t seem to
help me with Icelandic. Icelandic stands out. It’s like
Old English, like the English we would have spoken
before the Normans invaded.
JM: Two years ago you were challenged to learn
Icelandic in one week. After working with a private
instructor you dazzled Icelanders with a television
interview where you spoke the language quite
proficiently. What’s your strategy for learning a
language?
DT: I learned it visually. I was reading as much
as I could, and reading out loud to have my
pronunciation checked. All my Icelandic is actually
based on a couple of books, and my ability to
extrapolate the rules of grammar—even make up
my own words in some cases. Not only was I learning
words but creating my own words. I just don’t worry
about looking stupid when I’m learning.
JM: Is there a link between your aptitude for
numbers and language?
DT: I have a very deep relationship with numbers
because of the way I experience them. The same
can be said of words and languages. I like learning
languages, and it’s partly because it helps me
connect with people in a way I find difficult otherwise
because of my Asperger’s. [Asperger’s syndrome is
Tammet’s form of autism.]
JM: Autism is often accompanied by a certain
difficulty in communicating with other people, but you
are quite a phenom among autistics because you can
express yourself so effortlessly. Have you always been
such a social animal?
DT: I’ve become much less scared of people. As
this has happened I’ve been spending more time
with people and less time with numbers. Therefore
my relationship with numbers has changed as my
relationship with people has changed. In a sense,
language has become more important for me, as I