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Speaking a Second Language May Change How You See the World

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-can-see-clearly-now,-der-regen-ist-weg dept.

sciencehabit writes: Where did the thief go? You might get a more accurate answer if you ask the question in German. How did she get away? Now you might want to switch to English. Speakers of the two languages put different emphasis on actions and their consequences, influencing the way they think about the world, according to a new study (abstract). The work also finds that bilinguals may get the best of both worldviews, as their thinking can be more flexible.

1 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Re:My experience with bilingual people by muridae · · Score: 1, Troll

    You call a person who can speak two languages bilingual.
    You call a person who can speak three languages trilingual.
    What do you call a person who speaks only one language?

    American.