The best of both worlds.

Do you think that the language we speak may determine how we see the world around us??How much of a different perception a person sitting next to you on the plane can have from you ... Somewhat unsettling, right? Why a native English speaker would think any differently than their colleague who is a non native English speaker? Would we think the same way if we got to eliminate the differences between our locations? Would we consider switching/adjusting our thinking depending on where we are heading?

There are so many pieces to this puzzle...

One thing is for certain: using more than one language has lots of perks. Most Europeans already take advantage of using second language in their lives daily. It is not quite the same in the US where learning a foreign language is still taken lightly by the educational system. Could it be due to a fact that about 65.3 million Americans over the age of four (approximately 21%) already speak a language other than English at home**? Let this sink in for a moment....

Going back and forth between two or more languages is beneficial for one's brain, as it pushes the bilingual /multilingual speakers' brain to be more flexible than their monolingual counterparts. Why not taking advantage of such then?

Allow me to elaborate...

Numerous studies show that the language we speak actually has a direct correlation not only with how we see the world around us, but also how we make decisions. Monolingual brains work differently from individuals who are using more than one language pair in their communication. The perspective on things around those who have a foreign language skillset mastered is different from monolinguals and can be easily adapted to their surroundings as their brain can also switch between concepts as fast as it does when they communicate (you can call it " the best of both worlds"). Most bilingual speakers can entertain different perspectives while going back and forth with very little efforts and this is because of their cognitive abilities. Being able to speak a second language often shapes our specific perception of things and some patterns of such may be visible to people more than others.

A few interesting findings*:

1. Japanese speakers typically group objects by material rather than shape.
2. ?Israeli Arabs?are found to be able to associate Arab names with positive words in an Arabic language context much better than in a Hebrew one.
3. Korean speakers tend to focus on how tightly objects fit together.
4. Russian speakers can identify shades of blue much quicker than their English speaking counterparts.
5. English speakers when communicating often leave out the endpoints and focus in on the action or use the open ended approaches.
6. German speakers tend to emphasize the beginning, middle and the end of the action when speaking about something (they express intention of action along with the verb). They are more goal oriented in their communication than English speakers.
7. Mandarin speakers tend to view time vertically while while their English counterparts view time horizontally.

Feel free to share any other examples you may know of in the comments below. I am sure there is plenty out there we all can learn about from one another.

We all know that the differences between each culture can be easily found in their language/s. In order to master the skill of a foreign language, one must first understand the culture well. This is why when learning any foreign language it is best to do it with native speakers as language reflects not only the values, but also the ever-evolving views and beliefs of its speakers (and this is why native speakers tend to be the best teachers out there). Convince me otherwise.

* https://www.science.org/content/article/speaking-second-language-may-change-how-you-see-world and https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/04/how-the-language-you-speak-changes-your-view-of-the-world/

**https://www.americancouncils.org/news/across-globe/why-study-foreign-language-when-rest-world-learning-english