>Language doesn't dictate patterns of thought, but it certainly shapes them. What you're talking about is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and it is not certain at

>Language doesn't dictate patterns of thought, but it certainly shapes them. What you're talking about is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and it is not certain at all. It's highly contested. Language may have an effect on some cognitive processes (again, contested) but definitely not all. However, language does reflect the cumulative experience of a culture, whether modern speakers are aware of that experience or not. Here's a good illustration: http://youtu.be/kIzFz9T5rhI http://youtu.be/kIzFz9T5rhI So language can reflect a culture, but it probably doesn't dictate it. In the case of the Mongolian girl, she's unlikely to be a nomad these days, and what separates an English speaking Mongolian from a non-English speaking one is usually wealth. So, someone from a wealthy country is probably more culturally similar to her than they might expect.