The article mentions that English is his seventh language! And there's a charming series of quotes about his journey from being a linguist to a mathematician -

The article mentions that English is his seventh language! And there's a charming series of quotes about his journey from being a linguist to a mathematician - "The book was in Russian, and I didn’t know Russian, but a young linguist is not afraid to pick up another language." ... "Oxford was the only place that would allow you to rush through an undergraduate program in two years. I didn’t know English, but a linguist is not afraid to pick up another language."