A study analyzed the relationship between foreign language learning and four variables, including: nonverbal intelligence, conceptual level, mother tongue, and mathematics. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the same mental processes are involved in poor and good language learning, regardless of the learner's mother tongue. The study was carried out in Finland (with Swedish and English as foreign languages) and India (with English as a foreign language). Subjects were 600 Finnish and 168 Indian children aged 12-13. Tests of foreign language comprehension and production, a test of analytical and inductive reasoning, and a paragraph completion test for conceptual level were administered. School grades in foreign and native languages and in mathematics were also analyzed. Analysis indicates that three subgroups of varying nonverbal ability (low, average, high) differed significantly on comprehension and production, and similarly, three subgroups of conceptual level differed on these variables. In addition, it is concluded that there is a positive correlation between nonverbal intelligence and foreign language learning under normal school conditions, regardless of native language, the language taught, or cultural background. Findings suggest a parallel between the processes required for inductive reasoning and for foreign language learning. (MSE)