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I've been learning a second language, one that is very different than English, and it has been a complete mind fuck. I can see why knowing two languages would h
by dagav 7y ago
I've been learning a second language, one that is very different than English, and it has been a complete mind fuck. I can see why knowing two languages would have a positive effect on your brain: another language is an entire other way of thinking about the world. Language is an artifact of the culture that created it, and it crystallizes the values and beliefs of that culture. By learning the language, you can enter into an entire other world.
- point78 7y agoWhat language?
- dagav 7y agoHebrew.
- point78 7y agoIt's a mindfuck only when the alphabet is all goofy compared to your native language imo. Learned Spanish and was relatively easy...now learning Russian and yes...mindfuck!
- edanm 7y agoOut of curiosity, why Hebrew? (I'm a Hebrew speaker) > Language is an artifact of the culture that created it, and it crystallizes the values and beliefs of that culture. By learning the language, you can enter into an entire other world. A common take, although I don't know if I would take it too far. Hebrew specifically has the advantage of having been re-created from nothing only a relatively short time ago (150 years more or less), so maybe in a sense it's more explicitly codified. I'm genuinely curious what kind of things you think that learning Hebrew shows about Hebrew-speaking culture though - I'd love to be proven wrong!
- dagav 7y agoI'm Jewish and my father is Israeli, so I was learning to connect with them and my heritage. I'm no expert on Hebrew but one thing I noticed is it's connection to the Bible: Adam means "Man" or "Mankind" in Hebrew. "Earth" is Adama. "Human Being" is Ben Adam, literally "Son of Adam", or "Son of Man".
- dagav 7y agoI wrote this in a rush so here is my clarified point: "Adama" means "Land", "Earth", or "Ground". "Adam" means "Man" or "Mankind". Adam was created by God from the ground, and "Adam" is derived from "Adama". "Ben Adam" means "Human Being", literally "Son of Adam" or "Son of Man". So when you say "Human Being" in Hebrew, you are directly referencing the creation of Man by God in Genesis.
- tmm84 7y agoThis the current language I have been trying to learn lately. I think the hardest part to learning it has been finding good sources that teach it. Is the word order the part that you marvel at or something else? For me, it has been the simplistic way of saying things that seem like bad English but are beautiful Hebrew (For example, "The painter painted the painting with paint.").
- leftyted 7y agoHaving studied a few languages, I don't agree with the idea that "another language is an entire other way of thinking about the world". That's not how it felt to me. There's a linguistic-philosophical debate over this topic: Linguistic Relativity (or Sapir-Whorf) vs Universal Grammar (generally attributed to Chomsky). Though both theories are plausible, I find the Universal Grammar theory more convincing. There are good arguments on both sides.
- johnisgood 7y agoPerhaps "another language is an entire other way of thinking about the world" is incorrect as long as that another language is another natural language. You might find http://www.lojban.org/files/why-lojban/whylojb.txt http://www.lojban.org/files/why-lojban/whylojb.txt interesting.
- leftyted 7y agoVery interesting, thanks for the link.
- dagav 7y agoMaybe "an entire other way of thinking about the world" is a bit dramatic but it certainly captures the values and beliefs of the culture.
- Avamander 7y agoDid you learn languages in the same family tree (e.g a German learning English) or not? Just curious.
- rukuu001 7y ago> another language is an entire other way of thinking about the world This has been exactly my experience (with Korean first, then Spanish)