Lead: Does knowing more languages make us different people? What are swear words for? How can the cardinal points replace directions? Is a multilingual romantic relationship sustainable? Why do we become more extraverted in a foreign language? In our article, we seek answers for these and similar questions.

Written by: Jurinka Miron Martin, cover photo: Pexels

By the time we start our university studies we are usually familiar with two foreign languages, at least one well enough to think in that language from time to time. In the age of almost unlimited access to content streams, foreign-language films and series, and language-learning apps it is relatively easy to know English or other popular languages on the conversational level. The acquired languages, on the other hand, alter our personalities, the wiring of our brains and our attitudes towards the world: it’s as if we are different people whose perspective of the world  is guided by words.

The personality-changing effects of thinking in a foreign language have many discovered causes and consequences. A Roman emperor once said, “to have another language is to possess a second soul”, which he likely meant metaphorically, and not in a psychopathological sense. According to cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky, language does indeed determine our perceived reality: for instance, some aborigines in Australia don’t know the concepts of right and left, so they use compass directions instead. Therefore, if a person steps on a sharp stone with their left foot, they say “My southwest foot was split open by a particularly sharp piece of rock!”, or an equivalent saying saturated with insults and pain.

People in Western cultures structure time linearly, similarly to the direction of reading: we perceive the passage of words and minutes from left to right, while Arabic speakers in the opposite way, interpreting time and text from right to left. The comprehension of the palpable world also differs by languages: Spanish and German speakers put distinct articles before the word “bridge”, which therefore becomes “dainty and beautiful”  or “monument and long” in their eyes. Languages are colourful and various, and the globally known seven thousand languages, in a way, unique compared to the others: speakers use different words, conjugate differently, approach space and time from different directions, and this changes the reality of the users.

Consequently, we not only think differently in a foreign language, but the simple knowledge of multiple sets of codes alters our brain structure, as if every unbeknown word would be a magnet that attracts the surrounding knowledge. The amount of practicing a language thickens our brain density, and according to research, it is therefore advisable to begin getting acquainted with foreign languages as early as possible, since getting older decelerates the development of neural networks, making learning more difficult.The dominant personality traits of bilingual English-Spanish speaking people have changed in accordance with the used language. The study says that the American individualistic and the Mexican collectivist culture differs to such an extent that it leaves its mark on both the language and its speaker. The usage of English makes people more extraverted, friendly and conscientious, which results in everyone doing their job as quickly and efficiently as possible. In other words, the language also adapted to the production-oriented approach of the economy. Speaking an Eastern language incentivises us to be more polite, and makes us more likely to express respect for others. Japanese people, for instance, distinguish three levels of politeness: the simple form is used among friends, the general among strangers and colleagues, whilst the developed form is used to express gratitude and humility. It is quite remarkable that the usage of the simple form is not commonly used until about the age of ten, perhaps thereby raising their offspring to be more polite.

In addition to politeness, languages ​​also carry the art of swearing, and their proper use indicates that the speaker is familiar with both the positive and the negative meanings. Usually the most well-known words are the most frequently used, though the opposite is true for swear words: the more well-known they are, the less often we see them in journals or in blog posts. Taboo words, like swear words, have a great impact on our thoughts, actions, and attitudes towards other people. According to the old belief, those who swear a lot are aggressive and stupid, but researchers think swearing embodies a huge power: we use them to insult deliberately, to disrupt power relations, to reduce stress, and for humour. Interestingly, in Italy there are seventeen words to wish God to hell, whilst the English and Spanish have only sixteen, and the Germans use 53 expressions to describe their unintelligent, goblin-like fellows. So, it is worth paying attention to prevent swearing from becoming a pernicious art.

“I love you” – say multilingual couples to each other in English, yet somehow neither of them feels the same as if they had said it in their native language. We are most strongly attached to the language we use in our childhood, because we first experienced our emotions in that language. Does this mean that “I love you” whispered in another language in the dim light of a room at dawn means less to us? During an argument, will the emotional charge of the words we use be stronger, or will the content of the sounds be more important if we don’t feel the weight and depth of the words viscerally? In multilingual relationships, the most important thing is to pay attention to each other, to notice what emotions are flowing through us, what dynamics characterize the relationship, and why we act in ways the other person would never behave in. Recognising all this can help us change what doesn’t feel right and figure out new words that better express our shared love, or invent expressions of a common humorous language.

Languages are miraculous, they can build and destroy, can enrich and impoverish, they carry love and hatred, but they are all parts of our global cultural environment, so we need to protect them from disappearing. We certainly think differently in a foreign language, and this makes us truly colourful.