Folium: How The Language You Speak Changes Your View Of The World via The Independent

Posted by LEAF Architect on Thursday, May 18, 2017 · Leave a Comment

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The Independent: How The Language You Speak Changes Your View Of The World

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I began my journey of learning a new language when I was in middle school. My middle school Spanish teacher often expressed her passion for the language and how learning a foreign language changes you. She would say “language can change the way you think, and the way you live.” I didn’t ever think I would come to realize that for myself. While learning another language I came to the realization that as you become more and more fluid in that language, your thoughts start to change and you begin seeing the world a little differently.

“Just as regular exercise gives your body some biological benefits, mentally controlling two or more languages gives your brain cognitive benefits.” – Independent

My mother tongue is English, and I also consider myself fluent in Spanish. I never thought I would consider myself to be such, but I am thankful that my life has presented me with such opportunities. I can say that language really does affect the way we see the world and being bilingual is very beneficial… and here is why: Bilinguals get all the perks. Better job prospects, a cognitive boost and even protection against dementia according to a study done at Lancaster University. There have been countless studies in recent years that suggest that bilinguals Going back and forth between languages appears to be a kind of brain training, pushing your brain to be flexible. Just as my gym teacher in middle school would tell us that we need to exercise our bodies in order to reach a certain goal, we need to also exercise our brains hard enough to reach a certain understanding of a language.

“Russian speakers are faster to distinguish shades of blue than English speakers… And Japanese speakers tend to group objects by material rather than shape, whereas Koreans focus on how tightly objects fit together. – ScienceMag

In the study done at Lancaster University, two native speakers, one German and the other English were put to the test to see how they would translate a few different sentences. Research with second language users shows a relationship between linguistic proficiency in such grammatical constructions and the frequency with which speakers mention the goals of events. They were first shown a video of a situation, such as a woman walking towards her car or a man riding his bicycle. They were then asked to describe that scene in their native tongue…

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“German speakers are likely to imagine where this woman is going and English speakers to focus on her journey,
but bilinguals may be able to have it both ways.” – ScienceMag

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The results were astonishing. “The worldview assumed by German speakers is a holistic one – they tend to look at the event as a whole – whereas English speakers tend to zoom in on the event and focus only on the action.” Both the English and German speakers watched the same situation but when asked to explain what was going on their views through their spoken word was dramatically different.

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Language really can influence the way you think. But can two different minds exist within one person? I would agree and say yes. According to the research done, and by personal experience, I can say that my view of the world was changed. There are words that don’t translate directly from Spanish to English. I loved those words that I could only express with my Peruvian friends in order to get a point across. I think the only way anyone could truly measure the way it affects the way you think is to go out and exercise your brain!

Julie Martin
LEAF Editor & Contributor

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