Can languages affect our personality?- Teacher Daniel Gomez Irwin
Can languages affect our personality?
We are who we are, or aren't we?
We all like to think that there are some specific characteristics that define us, that make us unique as individuals. The mixture of our thoughts, our feelings, our ideas and values create the base for our personal development and our way of living. All of those different aspects that constitute ourselves are affected in the first place by the society and culture that we live in and above all the education we are given since we are kids.
And how do we interact with people and show the world who we are? Using different ways to express ourselves. To express something is almost as important as the thing we want to express itself, and there are many different ways to do it, such as talking, writing, body expression, eye contact, art, etc.
So obviously the tool we use to communicate with each other and to express ourselves, regardless the way we do it, is language. I was once thinking about all this and I came up with a question that I now ask you:
If our personality is reflected in the specific language we choose to express something, does our personality change if we decide to change the way to express it? Or otherwise, can we stay true to ourselves and who we are independently of the way we choose to express it?
When I was doing some research about this issue I came across this interesting video. Take a look and pay attention not only to the speech but also to his body language and tone of voice:
So, what do you think? Are we quite different people when we express ourselves in different languages? Or is it just a matter of expression but the essence of ourselves and what we try to communicate stays the same? And what about bilingual people, do you think that their way of expressing themselves is exactly the same when using whatever language they speak? Does it affect their personalities too?
I hope you like this post, and don't forget to leave your comments!
I like to think that I am the same person no matter what language I am speaking but indeed how I express myself and what I even talk about is affected by the cultural baggage that comes along with the language or the society I am expressing myself in.
ResponderExcluirThe "differences" don't constitute a major shift in personality. I think that I am still easily recognizable as being the same person in multiple linguistic contexts.
But who knows, maybe I am just fooling myself.
Teacher Nia, something funny happened to me once. I was talking to my mom in portuguese through Skype about something red tape I was going through and my husband who is Argentinian was listening. I was cursing a little bit because I was frustrated. When I ended the conversation, my husband looks at me and says: "I didn't know you cursed." :-) I guess I don't have multiple personalities, but I am sweeter when I speak Spanish!!! :-)
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