Does your language define who you are?

elsa o’brien lópez

The language we speak carries a history as well as many traditions with it. Our language shapes the way we see the world. This is why, meeting someone who has two mother tongues can be quite disconcerting. Which of them defines the way they see the world? Can this person suffer from culture clashes or identity crises at times?

I recently met two people who spoke English and Spanish with the same level of proficiency.  One of them was a busker and the other one, a Radio broadcaster. For the first time, I was perplexed in the same way people possibly are when they hear me communicate interchangeably in either of these languages.

My confusion with these two acquaintances came as a result of thinking I had them figured out in one language, and then finding out they were equally fluent in another one. This came as a realisation of the association I was making between language and personality. These people’s language was giving me information related to my knowledge of their country and culture, and based on pre-conceptions and identity stereotypes. 

Despite the danger of trusting these stereotypical notions, this is how we actually get by in life. We make inferences and decisions, based on the little information we have about people. And of course, a lot of these inferences will be correct: because language is culture to a great extent. 

The language we speak carries a history as well as many traditions with it. Our language shapes the way we see the world. This is why, meeting someone who has two mother tongues can be quite disconcerting. Which of them defines the way they see the world? Can this person suffer from culture clashes or identity crises at times? Can their sense of belonging to a culture and their set of values be compromised?

The reality is that the world is multilingual. The fact is that more than half of the people on Earth speak at least two languages. People’s puzzlement at others’ bilingualism is a phenomenon that can take only place in a minoritarian monolingual part of the world.

My experience growing up in a bilingual home, in an otherwise monolingual context, has been tainted both with recognition of the privilege it meant, and a certain sense of longing. I always felt I stood between two worlds. Deeply connected to both but never fully part of either.

As much as this is what I felt at the time, I now realise it is not strictly true. One’s mother tongues make up a major part of who we are. As cognitive scientist  Lera Boroditsky (2017) explains, my vision of the world had been shaped by the languages I spoke. 

‘Each language’s specific structures direct the speaker’s attention to specific aspects of objects and events. As a consequence, this can influence how we perceive certain events.’

Dame Caroline Wilson, UK Ambassador in China and fluent speaker of chinese, admitted in an interview for the British Council’s Voices Magazine that ‘being able to speak other languages gives you another dimension. Not necessarily in terms of personality, but in your capacity to have richer experiences with a broader mindset’. 

In fact, personality and language actually seem to be related in some way. According to the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis (Slobin’s 1987, 1996)  each language’s specific structures direct the speaker’s attention to specific aspects of objects and events. As a consequence, this can influence how we perceive certain events.

Therefore, two people who speak a different language can have a different vision of the world in part, as a result of this. As much as different languages can set up boundaries to cross-cultural relationships, learning additional languages will help remove them.

Interestingly, research points to the higher empathy levels present in bilingual individuals. The reason bilinguals tend to be more empathetic than monolinguals is that learning another language is learning another culture. Learning a language helps understand the language’s cultural phenomena, which benefits people’s empathy (Chen, M., Fang, Y., 2022).  Women and those higher in empathy reported higher behavioural intentions to attend diversity programs (Cundiff, N. L., Nadler, J. T., & Swan, A., 2009).

Despite the monolingual reality of many European countries, cross-cultural marriages are increasing at such a rate that might soon be closer to the norm than to the exception. Multilingual families in monolingual contexts are bringing up citizens that will be able to perceive the world from different points of view. These children will have little difficulty in putting themselves in another person’s shoes. Bilingual schools and an early onset in foreign language learning can bring not only  professional and educational advantages to a person, but also a hope for inclusion to diversity and better social understanding for a whole country.

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