Different Languages, Different Personalities

[Petrichor]

A question for those more fluent than I (nearly all of you, that is). Are you a slightly different person when speaking Chinese - or any other language for that matter?

According to research, this may be the case:

Her theory would seem to find support in a number of recent studies. David Luna from Baruch College in New York City and colleagues, for example, recently asked bilingual English-Spanish volunteers to watch TV adverts featuring women - first in one language and then six months later in the other - and then rate the personalities of the characters involved. When the volunteers viewed the ads in Spanish, they tended to rate the women as independent and extrovert, but when they saw the advert in English they described the same characters as hopeless and dependent (Journal of Consumer Research, vol 35, p 279). Another study found that Greek-English bilinguals reported very different emotional reactions to the same story depending on the language - finding themselves "indifferent" to the character in one version, but feeling "concerned" for his progress in the other, for example (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol 25, p 124).

One explanation is that each language brings to mind the values of the culture we experienced while learning it, says Nairán Ramírez-Esparza, a psychologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. She recently asked bilingual Mexicans to rate their personality in English and Spanish questionnaires. Modesty is valued more highly in Mexico than it is in the US, where assertiveness gains respect, and the language of the questions seemed to trigger these differences. When questioned in Spanish, each volunteer was more humble than when the survey was presented in English.

It's an interesting article and worth a read. I especially liked this bit:

Much has been made of the difficulties of learning a new language later in life, but the evidence so far suggests the effort should pay off. "You can learn another language at any age, you can learn it fluently, and you can see benefits to your cognitive system," says Marian. Bialystok agrees that late language-learners gain an advantage, even if the performance boost is usually less pronounced than in bilingual speakers. "Learn a language at any age, not to become bilingual, but just to remain mentally stimulated," she says. "That's the source of cognitive reserve."

http://www.teachmorelovemore.org/Articl ... leid=17883

[ironlady]

Very much so.
I think that was one of the things that led to a bad marriage with a native speaker of Spanish. We spoke Spanish together, and I'm a lot less assertive in Spanish than I am in English.

[Teddoman]

I do notice that I'm just not as capable of being as funny or interesting in Mandarin compared to English. It's hard to be witty in a second language that you're orally fluent in, when fluency is the ability to communicate without interruption or miscomprehension, but when you're still well short of mastery. You can't zing out a witty, double entendre in Mandarin if you never think of one or if it comes to you two hours afterwards. So that's my frustration. I have to adjust my personality in Mandarin to fit my linguistic limits.

And culture definitely has an impact. You just talk in certain ways in English that, if translated word for word into Mandarin, I just can't imagine would happen.

[Petrichor]

Very much so.
I think that was one of the things that led to a bad marriage with a native speaker of Spanish. We spoke Spanish together, and I'm a lot less assertive in Spanish than I am in English.

Wow that's crazy.

It sounds like learning other culture's languages would go a long way to promote peace and understanding in the world. If you have a better understanding of how differently another culture thinks it's easier to interpret their actions.

One thing I've found interesting so far is the way that Chinese doesn't negate 'worry' but has a whole 'don't worry' word of its own.

[archylgp]

One thing I've found interesting so far is the way that Chinese doesn't negate 'worry' but has a whole 'don't worry' word of its own.

別擔心
別著急
別煩惱
別操心

The list could go on and on.

Are you talking about 放心 as a word for don't worry? Well, we have that word in English; it's 'relax'...or are you talking about a different word? If so, please share...

I agree with the article to an extent. I think it has a lot more to do with what is said and what is thought in different cultures than anything linguistic...language is just an articulation of the underlying 'culture'; it's not the source...I think this is often confused....

[Petrichor]

One thing I've found interesting so far is the way that Chinese doesn't negate 'worry' but has a whole 'don't worry' word of its own.

別擔心
別著急
別煩惱
別操心

The list could go on and on.

Are you talking about 放心 as a word for don't worry? Well, we have that word in English; it's 'relax'...or are you talking about a different word? If so, please share...

I agree with the article to an extent. I think it has a lot more to do with what is said and what is thought in different cultures than anything linguistic...language is just an articulation of the underlying 'culture'; it's not the source...I think this is often confused....

Mmm, yes, I was talking about fangxin. My lack of knowledge showing me up there.

I read an interesting book that explored the question of whether language drives culture or vice-versa. This is it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Through-Languag ... d_ys_iyr39

They looked at concepts of colour and did experiments to tell whether speakers of different languages actually saw colours in different ways. They concluded that they did. It was actually very interesting as it explained how cultures developed words for colour across time in a specific pattern which was common to all human societies (though as the societies got more sophisticated there was a little variation).

In the end I don't think it really matters whether the chicken or the egg came first. I don't think there's much doubt that different cultures have different value systems and this is expressed via language.

[archylgp]

I read an interesting book that explored the question of whether language drives culture or vice-versa. This is it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Through-Languag ... d_ys_iyr39

They looked at concepts of colour and did experiments to tell whether speakers of different languages actually saw colours in different ways. They concluded that they did. It was actually very interesting as it explained how cultures developed words for colour across time in a specific pattern which was common to all human societies (though as the societies got more sophisticated there was a little variation).

In the end I don't think it really matters whether the chicken or the egg came first. I don't think there's much doubt that different cultures have different value systems and this is expressed via language.

Perfect: "I don't think there's much doubt that different cultures have different value systems and this is expressed via language."

[housecat]

Yes. I feel much different speaking Spanish. I've though of this often, as I really notice this quite a bit. And I noticed it early in my studies of Spanish, when I was still able to understand much more than I could say. When I dream in Spanish, the dreams are even very different than the kinds of dreams I have in English.

I think it may have much more to do with the cultural norms of the people you're likely to be using the second language with. That means that I would expect this to be much less the case for cultures in which it's very common for everyone in the community to speak several languages--unless they learned a language that was foreign to most of the other community members.

I feel like I have a different personality in Spanish because the people I speak Spanish to tend to have very different cultural norms. Language is inherently cultural, so when you aquire (I did not say learn or study) another language, you also aquire some new culture. That's very likey extremely oversimplified, but basically that explains it to me.

There are also, of course, different idioms, different ways of expression that simply aren't possible in one language, but might be quite rich in another. I find Spanish to be exciting and vibrant compared to English. You never know until you know, but English is a very brief language.

I feel this for Mandarin, as well, but my Mandarin is still not fluent at all, and my vocabular too limited. I did, however, make my first real joke the other day. I think it was even actually funny. In English, it would have made no sense whatsoever.

And if you're wondering, I prefer the Spanish me.

[Petrichor]

Yes. I feel much different speaking Spanish. I've though of this often, as I really notice this quite a bit. And I noticed it early in my studies of Spanish, when I was still able to understand much more than I could say. When I dream in Spanish, the dreams are even very different than the kinds of dreams I have in English.

I think it may have much more to do with the cultural norms of the people you're likely to be using the second language with. That means that I would expect this to be much less the case for cultures in which it's very common for everyone in the community to speak several languages--unless they learned a language that was foreign to most of the other community members.

I feel like I have a different personality in Spanish because the people I speak Spanish to tend to have very different cultural norms. Language is inherently cultural, so when you aquire (I did not say learn or study) another language, you also aquire some new culture. That's very likey extremely oversimplified, but basically that explains it to me.

There are also, of course, different idioms, different ways of expression that simply aren't possible in one language, but might be quite rich in another. I find Spanish to be exciting and vibrant compared to English. You never know until you know, but English is a very brief language.

I feel this for Mandarin, as well, but my Mandarin is still not fluent at all, and my vocabular too limited. I did, however, make my first real joke the other day. I think it was even actually funny. In English, it would have made no sense whatsoever.

And if you're wondering, I prefer the Spanish me.

Thanks Housecat, that's really interesting. I feel as though I'd like to know the Spanish you but alas that will never be as it's enough of a challenge for me to learn Mandarin.

I find it all remarkable, but on the other hand it's common sense. There's a feedback loop between what we say and who we are, and if the available language limits what we say then that's going to impact how we see ourselves.

I'm wondering now if this is a cause of some people's enhanced ability or lack of ability to acquire new languages, that it depends on how malleable their personalities are, or how well they're able to identify with a different way of thinking.

[Feiren]

I have the same experience. I'm a lot more extroverted in Mandarin. I think you have to be because you have to make so many mistakes to learn. Speaking Mandarin is very intimidating at first, so you need 'to have a thick skin' as the Taiwanese say.