I think that there is a substantial amount of Brazilian culture that seeps into my thought processes when I am thinking or speaking in Portuguese.
The simplest example I can imagine is the Brazilian habit of applying diminutives to everything, to the point where it sounds ridiculous in direct translation, but that’s how the language goes and it would be weird without it.
Things seem more relaxed and easygoing in Portuguese. I suppose that’s why I don’t like to listen to Bossa Nova in English – it just isn’t right.
Of course once you go beyond just thinking in the language, then you get into gestures and so forth. Without a doubt, my gestures are different between English and Portuguese.
I’m not perfectly fluent, but when I speak Japanese I have reached the level where I think in it as opposed to translating quickly. Ummmm, I wouldn’t say I’m a different person, but my personality definitely changes. When I speak Japanese, the culture affects me (much more-so when I’m in Japan). I also become much more flirtacious and bold. When I’m in Japan, from the way I talk you’d think I’m a major playboy. (Only time will tell ;)).
I am the same person whether I speak French or English, but under certain circumstances I am extremely uncomfortable speaking a language or the other depending on the situation… it’s very strange!!
I’m the same person but there’s some subjects about which I think more easily in one language and some about which I think more easily in another. Normally this is linked to which was the language in which I learned it.
I can do chemistry in any of my three languages (although I sometimes have difficulty with English spellings); I cook in Spanish with some Catalan thrown in; I use Excel in English and whenever I’m forced to use it in a different language I would really, really, really like to murder with a dull, rusty teaspoon the idiots who localised the shortcuts.
This is an interesting thread! I love to read the updates by Peter at the JList because he talks about so many aspects of learning a different language and then immersing himself into it by living and working in the culture. His observations are both anecdotal and scholastic since he is also a teacher. He says he finds he assumes the more Japanese posture when he speaks Japanese as well as the more subdued gestures and vocal mannerisms. He describes it as a physical and mental gear shifting.
It’s always cool to go shopping in Montreal and watch the clerks shift into English after they “Bon jour!” me and I “Hello!” them because their voice goes lower and Valley Girl in English.
I do the exact same thing. I’ll remember the literal meaning of something without knowing what language it was in. I don’t think my thought process differs all that much between languages.
I’ve never noticed any remarkable differences in how I think or act. There’s a different thought process due to grammar and cultural differences, but it’s nothing drastic. For me, it’s less like code-switching between English and German and more like everything gets automatically processed into Caerie-Speak in my head, whatever language that is. I’m not a very verbal person anyway, though, and regardless of what language it is, I don’t follow instructions well when they’re spoken, so that might have something to do with it. Written down or demonstrated? No problem. A lecture? Forget about it.
My Bulgarian is far from perfect, but it’s the language I use most on a daily basis. (Although I try to speak to my students mostly in English, I adopt an unnaturally slow and careful speech pattern with them. The only creature who hears normal English from me is my cat.) I would say that I do not switch “codes”. For instance, I nod my head Bulgarian-style even when speaking English with other Americans. (I’m going to have a hell of a time readjusting to normal head nodding when I get back to the US.)
I picked up Portuguese as another language after high school. I tend to speak exactly the same way, with the occasional stop to remember what word I’m coming up with next. The Sheckstress, on the other had, tends to be a lot more authoritative in her native tongue and more subservient in English.
It’s fun to her her whip out an Oxente! As it sounds a lot like “O Shit”
Preface: I haven’t been raised bilingual, but my English is arguably pretty fluent (I’ll probably make some stupid grammatical mistake in this post to disprove that theory, but anyhow).
I wouldn’t say that my personality changes with the language, but my intonation and tone of voice definitely do; my German voice is much lower than the American one, and I apparently tend to adopt what my colleagues call a “Cockney” voice (whatever that may be) whenever I talk to British people.
What I just noticed while on an extended stay in the US: When I’m tired, and in an English-speaking country, I sometimes have trouble distinguishing what language I am currently speaking. I’ll prattle on in German, totally convinced I’m speaking English. Vice versa, I’ve occasionally not noticed speaking English to my fellow German colleagues over there. This doesn’t happen when I’m at home in Germany, though, so it must be a combination of concentration on the foreign language and lack of general concentration, if that makes sense.
I’ve also noticed that there are certain concepts that can be much better expressed in one language (or grammatical construct thereof) over the other. My friends and I are in the habit of just switching languages to whichever suits us best for the situation, however, other people tend to be irritated by that.
It isn’t usually the case near the France/Italy border anymore, but since most board members are from Europe or North America I wanted to use something local. You can still observe this in regions that sport multiple languages; brittany, southwestern france, practically anywhere in africa or south america, and oodles of other places.
I am nowhere near fluent, but French is the language I use on a daily basis (with a smattering of Fulfulde for practical things).
I think my mannerisms do change when I am speaking or thinking in French. Part of that is that I only French with Cameroonians and only English to Americans, so the kinds of interactions I am having are different. I also maintain a bit of a different identity (nice school teacher who doesn’t want to get married to you) in my community than I do among the other Americans I hang out with (a little wild, very wacky). Added to that is that my French sucks, so overall in French I am a pretty polite, somewhat distant, and very well behaved person. I find it really difficult to talk to Cameroonians in English, and sometimes end up conversing in French even with Anglophone Cameroonians who speak it as poorly as I do.
As for thinking in French- it happens, but it’s situational. Generally I think in French if I am thinking about something that has to do with work or if I am thinking about a Cameroonian. Thinking in French makes me very, very tired since I suck at it. Sometimes I find myself rewriting my memories in French, and I have to stop myself because it’s rediculous and exhausting.
There are quite a few things I can’t express as well in English as French, and my English is currently peppered quite liberally with French expressions. Mostly these are Cameroon specific. My English has definately degraded since coming here, especially with grammer.
Oddly, I speak Fulfulde to my cat. I think it’s because I’m used to using Fulfulde to take care of basic needs (buying food, saying where I am going, talking about the weather) and I use it when talking to children. Since my cat is like a child and I never really express anything complicated to it, Fulfulde is what comes automatically.
Bulgarians nod their heads the opposite way of everyone else. Shaking your head means yes, and nodding means no. They also do a funny little head bobbing motion, sort of side to side, to mean “okay, I accept this”.
They know from movies and TV that everyone else does it the opposite way, though.
Oh god, me too. And I’m an English teacher! This is not a good thing.