Researchers from Northwestern University have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese: Skilled Ear for Music May Help Language. According to one of the study's authors, the findings suggested that studying music "actually tunes our sensory system." And Mandarin speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. Suddenly, all those parents who put their kids in Mandarin classes are rushing to sign them up for music lessons too...