Can You Actually Learn a Foreign Language in Your Sleep?

Wouldn't it be amazing if you really could learn a foreign language just by listening to audio tapes while you are sleeping? You'd be a genius in no time! You could be romantic by speaking French, order fancy foods in Italian, or decipher peoples insults while standing in line at the DMV. Well sadly, a new study found it's probably just not possible.

Researchers scanned people's brains while they slept, and found we can distinguish between different sounds. But sadly our brain can not group them into any sort of sequence while we're sleeping. So whether you're listening to a foreign language or something in English, it's basically all just gibberish...

A study a few years ago found it might be possible to quit smoking by training people to associate cigarettes with bad smells while they're sleeping. But the new study found that's probably not possible either. How do you say 'that totally sucks' in French? Guess I won't know by tomorrow morning.