Multilingual with multi-personality?

[Cristiana]

Yesterday I read a post on internet in which there was a topic about polyglot people, and I thought of many of us or anyone who is in a LDR trying to learn 1 or 2 languages.

This post said that who speaks more than one language, has more than one personality, that switch whenever we speak another language.

I don't believe we all have multi-personality but I've seen how I can change when I talk to my SO and to anybody who speaks italian. I guess is because when we speak our native language, we don't have to think about it and we're more natural. And when we speak a foreign language, all the little emotions and details may change ourselves in that moment.

What do you guys think about that?

[kittyo9]

Interestingly, different languages offer different perspectives on the world. The way some languages describe certain feelings or situations can shape how you behave when speaking that language.

I've seen what you're talking about with my SO, though-- when he speaks Spanish, he is quite expressive and uses a great variety of intonations; however, when he speaks English, he uses a lighter, higher voice and has much less variety in his speech. We've talked about it and he agrees that it is probably because with Spanish, he doesn't even have to think about it, but in English, he is still learning how to express emotions and has to make sure he gets his sentences right in order to be understood.

[Cristiana]

but in English, he is still learning how to express emotions and has to make sure he gets his sentences right in order to be understood.

I guess the knowledge and confidence with the foreign language has something to do with it, too

[Hollandia]

My SO is fluent in English and Dutch is his native tongue. He has said that someday when he grows old and senile, he could see himself forgetting English but never Dutch. He "thinks" in Dutch and when we first met he struggled with a few English words but now he speaks English daily and since in Croatia hardly any Dutch. I don't think he is a different person when he speaks either one but he still has a hard time with "th" so "this" and "that" tend to sound like "dis" and "dat",( which is really sexy to me). Maybe it does have more to do with confidence.

I have studied Dutch and kinda gave up because I could not wrap my head around it. I just felt like a fool when I tried and failed to make sentences make sense. I don't think if I ever do learn it it would be a different personality but it definitely will never be as confident as I am with English so maybe I would come off as more timid.

[lucybelle]

While I definitely see the side that kitty said- about how different languages describe life in different ways, I certainly don't feel I or my SO have two personalities. Maybe it's because we interchange between them so often? I think every day I speak about 50% English and 50% Spanish. Some days will be more English, some more Spanish, but on the whole it's really 50/50. If I was switching between personalities that much I'd probably be diagnosed with bipolar!

[Cristiana]

If I was switching between personalities that much I'd probably be diagnosed with bipolar!

In fact I dont believe the article was true, just something metaphorical.

[differentcountries]

I am often more ironic in English and more polite in Turkish than I am in Norwegian. I am used to speaking English throgh work, for days on end I can think in English, and according to my husband I sometimes dream in English (and talk out loud). I find in order to learn Turkish, I must feel and think it, without any translations "behind" the words. Sometimes I wake and find that I dreamed about Turkish sounds or images. I am more shy in Turkish because I don't know it that well, but I am also very...forcably upfront in trying to speak it, as I know everybody speaks to everybody else in Turkey and take it more by offence if they are not spoken to right away, wheras in Norway not saying much at all is sometimes quite ok.

[BlueCat]

He "thinks" in Dutch and when we first met he struggled with a few English words but now he speaks English daily and since in Croatia hardly any Dutch.

I've had that with a few people I've met, that despite how well they know their second language, they still think in their native language. It takes a long time before that internal translating goes away and the thought and speech comes naturally.

[Dziubka]

We speak Polish at home/together and German when we're out and to other people. I don't think we have a Polish and a German personality.
My SO has more of a deadpan humor when speaking German, but most of the times it's unintentionally funny, so that doesn't really count.
As a linguist I can also assure you that languages don't influence the way we think as much as some popular scientific reports make it seem. Yes, there are some things that some languages can express more easily than others but it doesn't shape our personalities or influence or behavior that much.

[snow]

The only thing I noticed is that my pitch varies when I speak different languages. When I speak polish it's rather deep. German is "normal" I suppose and English is much higher, as I am the most unsure, though I feel like I speak English better than Polish :P

[Miasmata]

I don't act any different when I speak different languages. The only thing I definitely think is that I can express being annoyed or sarcastic much better in German than in English. I don't know, it just works better.

[Deleted]

I read somewhere that there was a study that suggested you think more rationally when speaking a language that isn't your first. The reason for that is because your mind reverts to speaking practically and being systematic. I also remember reading somewhere that when learning a new language, the best ways to sound as "fluent" as possible are one, to be wasteful (that means learning filler words such as "uh" and "um") and two, to learn correct/natural sounding intonation, because of course native speakers won't speak their language in a monotone.

It could be that people show different "personalities" when speaking other languages because they can't express themselves to the extent they want to. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone is being interviewed in a language they aren't necessarily very competent in and interviewers treat them like they're talking to a complete Neanderthal. You have to remember that it's only the language barrier that prevents them from expressing their thoughts fully.

[CanadianGirl]

I do think my tone is sort of limited in Tamil, mostly because I was only really taught the polite way to speak it as a child and never got to learn the fun phrases/idioms that I could use in English. I probably come across as meek. My parents were always pretty calm, never angry and never swore, so that's the Tamil I know. Tamil-Canadians my age usually only use it sparingly, sort of like an in-joke, but really never to hold actual conversation in. It's why I want to start watching more Tamil film to try and expand my vocabulary. It's a real shame so many of them are musicals .

I feel like my SO is a little more sociable when speaking Spanish, but I think that's because he feels most confident using it. He's definitely the same person, but my Spanish personality is something between an awkward tourist and a hungry toddler..

[differentcountries]

I feel myself becoming different even if trying to speak in a different Norwegian dialect. I could probably learn another dialect quite well (and can imitate most), but mine is the only one that feels like ME. Even in writing standard Norwegian, there is a translation from my dialect. For years I used to write on dialect in my journal just as to read myself think straight. There is something about the tone of voice that is not just about getting across a message, but also getting feelings across, and the subtle differences. Like, in my dialect the word for "cry" has a very childish ring to it, or at least implyes that you have somehow lost self-control, wheras in standard Norwegian it just means water running from your eyes and you are perhaps a bit sad. Also, in my hometown we sometimes have a different way of putting together a sentence so that is more like German with the verb at the end - if I spoke like that in the city where I live, noone would even understand what I meant. Sometimes I miss just the sentence structure, kind of hard to explain but it feels more intimate to talk like that. I was just in the capital, and sometimes I get the same feeling that I did when I was a child; that the dialect there is somehow very posh and right, and at the same time kind of silly, like a play-language. They are very polite and soft-speaking, which you don't find as much in other parts of the country, and that to my ears sometime sounds as if they don't have any meanings about anything, since all is so very nice all the time. The Turks are a bit heavy on politeness, too, but luckily they also like to complain quite a bit too, which puts a balance to it all.

[conejita_hada]

I would say I'm a lot "nicer" speaking Spanish but I think that's more of still learning the language. My voice is a bit higher than in English (same thing with Italian) but overall, I'm starting to get the same fluctuation in my speech as with English (as my voice always fluctuates with whom I am speaking and what the conversation includes). I don't really swear in Spanish although I swear in English - I think the reason I haven't picked that up isn't personality but, again, because of lack of practice and influence of who I speak with in the specific language.