Ig Nobel Prize: Germans speak better Dutch with a drink

Researchers in Maastricht have won the Ig Nobel Prize for discovering that alcohol can help when speaking a foreign language – especially with pronunciation.

The Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded for the 35th time last night in Boston. These satirical ‘Nobel Prizes’ are given for research that first makes you laugh, then think.

In their article Dutch Courage?, the Maastricht winners (Fritz Renner, Inge Kersbergen, Matt Field, and Jessica Werthmann) describe how they studied fifty German students who had only recently started learning Dutch. Twenty-five were given a small amount of alcohol, the rest none. They were then asked to have a conversation in Dutch.

Observers – unaware of which participants had been drinking – noted that their pronunciation in particular improved. Interestingly, the slightly tipsy Germans themselves didn’t feel they were performing any better.

Bar

The idea came about at the bar during a scientific conference. The researchers do warn that alcohol in larger amounts impairs memory, so it’s not a good idea to drink if you want to learn a language.

The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is always festive and silly. The audience throws paper planes, opera singers perform songs on scientific topics, and the hosts wear funny hats. Winners are often present themselves, but the researchers from Maastricht were not. Their acceptance speech was read aloud by Nobel Prize winners Robert Merton and Svante Pääbo.

Nails

Alcohol also featured in the Ig Nobel Prize for aviation: scientists investigated whether bats can still fly and navigate properly after consuming a little alcohol. The answer: no.

Another winner this year tracked the growth of his own fingernails for 35 years and published his findings. He received the Ig Nobel Prize for literature. The prize for nutritional science went to researchers who discovered that a certain colourful lizard has a strong preference for quattro formaggi pizzas (with four types of cheese).

Also interesting: if you paint cows black and white, like zebras, they are less troubled by biting flies.

The Ig Nobel ceremony always takes place in September, one month before the real Nobel Prizes are awarded.