4 ms·
Supposedly people who speak multiple languages can have dramatically different personalities in each.
by sixo 10y ago
Supposedly people who speak multiple languages can have dramatically different personalities in each.
- tikhonj 10y agoHah, I've found this in myself. It feels like I'm a bit more of a jerk in Russian than in English—at least I'm more likely to let irritation show. I'm less visibly irritable in English. But it might also be a difference in contexts: I mostly speak Russian with my immediate family and English with other people.
- therein 10y agoI am definitely more outgoing, sociable and assertive in English but not so much so in Turkish.
- david927 10y agoDramatic is a strong word but definitely different. I'm more to the point in German, softer in Czech, but partly because each of those cultures sort of demands those changes. If I acted my German-speaking way in Czech, they'd think I was up-tight, I wouldn't really fit in, and the opposite in the other direction. Who we are is 20% or more (depending on the person) the country/culture/language we're in at the time, and that's true for everyone.
- pshc 10y agoAlso calls to mind a study which claimed that "thinking in a foreign language makes decisions more rational" by reducing deep-seated biases (that were formed as I grew up?) http://www.wired.com/2012/04/language-and-bias/ http://www.wired.com/2012/04/language-and-bias/