The Sleeping Brain Is a Marvelous Memory Making Machine

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to learn Japanese. Linguists often say that the best way to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in it, and that's what I did. For a while, I put post-it notes on items with their Japanese names on them, watched anime with the subtitles off and even fell asleep to kawaii Japanese podcasts whispering in my ear. Learn by osmosis, right? Maybe even as I sleep something will stick, I thought. It sounds utterly nonsensical -- learn while you're un...