How Languages Affect the Way We Think

Sep 28, 2023 Reading time : 6 min

One of the great skills that people have is this – Language.

For a long time, people treated words as mere labels, and languages as different ways of combining words to convey thoughts, feelings, and ideas. But the language is more than that. As a result, we can exchange intricate thoughts and ideas with each other, whether it is spoken aloud or written in ink. It is also a language in which we can evoke emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Now, of course, there is not a single language spoken worldwide. There are more than 7,000 present! That’s why language translation companies like languex.co are so important.

This now raises the question: Does language influence the way we think? Many have suggested that it does! It expands our vision, deepens our knowledge, and alters our view of the world. But how did that happen?

Language and Culture Go Hand in Hand

Language is not just a means of communication; it is part of a culture that makes it unique and clear. When it comes to language and culture, the word “culture and culture is the language” is often used because this is a common occurrence.

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According to anthropological linguist, Daniel Everett, language can be regarded as a cultural tool for linking the values and ideals of society and being shaped and shaped by its inhabitants over time. For example, if you look at the many expressions that Chinese culture has in the family, you can see how much they value that relationship. Also, there is a different Korean word “nunchi” (meaning iso-measure) that does not have an English translation. The term is related to the Korean belief in measuring how people think and feel to build communication, trust, and understanding.

So, if you want to learn a new language, be prepared to be introduced to a new world without your own!

Language Changes the Way We Look at Things

If you are familiar with the principle of linguistic harmony, it says that the way people think about the world is directly influenced by the foreign language people use to speak. Or more so, people could see only the elements of the world in which their language has words.

An easy way to explain this from a color perspective. The number of goals we have for the colors we see varies from one language to another. For example, English speakers call for various shades of blue, such as blue and black. Russian speakers have two distinct shades of blue: either siniy (dark blue) or goluboy (light blue). We do the same thing with another color: dark red and bright red – the last of which we call pink!

Another example is time. The English speaker usually arranged the time from left to right, but in Arabic, time was usually set from right to left. Different languages also require different methods of calculation. In French, 92 quatre-vingt douze or “twenty-four and twelve”. But in English, 92 is just ninety-two. Compare this with Mandarin Chinese, where the relationship between tens and units is very clear. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

There are many examples of how language influences understanding, such as gender and the interpretation of events.

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What This Means in Two Languages

Given our experience, it is not surprising that those who speak more than one language see the world differently. Numerous studies have shown that a new language can change the way a human mind combines information together, which is why it empowers two languages (even multilingual) to have more than one perspective on a particular subject. It says, for decision-makers, this can make it easier to negotiate and the ability to see both sides of an argument and different perspectives.

Many benefits come from having bilingualism, such as improved performance, better memory, and more confidence. That is why international companies want to employ bilingualism and equip their employees with international language skills that they can use in the workplace and in communicating with clients and clients such as those in health and financial care.

As we saw in this article, learning and using multiple languages affects our thinking a lot, and in a good way.

Multi-Lingual in Texts

Being multi-lingual in everyday conversations also reflects in our texting. We all love to speak in our native language and we all also love to have our spice of other languages mixed in our everyday conversations to suit a mood and make the texts even better. We even have fun reading and typing in other languages in some different language fonts, like Marathi in English font or English in Bangla font. This can be achieved in phone’s written conversations like chats and messages through apps like Marathi keyboard or Bangla keyboard app.

Importance of Multi-Linguality in Every Day Online Life

We talk to so many people online, some coming from very another end of the country and some from rural areas, while others simply feel more comfortable reading in a certain font.

Hence, we need to be more understanding and sensitive towards the receiver. Especially when it comes to business or feedback forms. To reach and understand maximum people, we need to add more fonts and languages rather than just sticking to English and expecting everyone to simply understand or take someone’s help to translate it for them. It’s high time that we use our technologies to remove all the boundaries of language barriers that surround us and block our communications. If you own a small business and want to apply this then the Bharat keyboard can be your best option for mobile keyboards as they have almost all Indian languages like Marathi, Bangla, Malayalam, Hindi, and much more and is also free of cost.