# Personality change when speaking another language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515 "2001-08-28T14:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/1 "2001-08-28T14:01:47Z")
I was going to start this one in General Questions, but I realised it was turning into an improptu poll. Anyway… A bunch of us got into a discussion about this last night: when you switch from speaking one language to another, does your personality change? I personally find that I gesture a lot more when using Esperanto than when using English. The unofficial consensus in the group was that yes, there are differences. So, polylingual Dopers, have you noticed differences in personality, gestures, personal style, or whatever, when you change languages? ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/2 "2001-08-28T14:05:58Z")
I do not speak Spanish very well at all, but I know I am much more timid when I do. Timid is one thing I don’t ever remember being called, but I’m so afraid of saying the wrong thing or being laughed at that I just get…well, timid! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/3 "2001-08-28T14:59:54Z")
I’m not polylingual – I wish I was (It’s not for lack of trying…just talent). I had a polylingual roomate who quoted a saying about this – “I am as many people as the languages I speak.” (or words to that effect). Where it came from, I have no idea. It sounds reasonable, but within limits – there was no way my confident, arrogant, and frequently manipulative roomie was going to change into a shy wallflower just by switching languages. ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/4 "2001-08-28T15:05:18Z")
There is a Czech proverb - “Learn a new language, get a new soul.” A language contains the entire thought and reasoning history of a group of people. To really learn the language you need to learn how to think in a new way, with a new set of cultural references. Think about it - your ability to tell jokes and express complex feelings and ideas suddenly disappears and you are feeling your way like a child. To answer your question, yes, I think the personality does change. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/5 "2001-08-28T15:34:00Z")
If you tied my hands down, I wouldn’t be able to speak French. I’m constantly gesturing and moving them. I don’t do it as much with German, but then again I don’t speak much German beyond the basics. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/6 "2001-08-28T15:38:35Z")
If/when I speak French (not that I do it well) my personality slightly alters into a bit more…sarcastic. However, when I speak my limited Italian, I play off a mock-sultry air. Not meant to be sexy–just humorous. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/7 "2001-08-28T16:17:35Z")
I come across as a completely different person while speaking French - shy, reserved. I think it’s due to the fact that I’m very bad at it, and often wondering if I had said something wrongly. Very different from my usual personality. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/8 "2001-08-28T16:25:43Z")
I’ll have to agree with **magdalene** here. I am a completely different person when I speak either French or English and another one when I’m in a situation where I have to speak both at once, in that case I’m totally confused, answering a French question in English or vice-versa or even, half and half. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/9 "2001-08-28T16:39:28Z")
I learned French from my parents, schoolteachers, French and Quebec TV, friends etc. That’s the real me. The **eunoia** you know and love is a composite of MAD magazine, Reader’s Digest vocabulary builders, schoolteachers, American TV, and friends who watch too much American TV…a completely different person, not that that’s any excuse… ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/10 "2001-08-28T23:34:57Z")
Actually, I don’t change my personality much. Since I speak and have been speaking the same amount of English and German over the past ten years, a major shift in personality every time I opened my mouth would probably be catastrophic. (Of course I probably experienced an overall shift in personality over the past ten years, but that’s the topic of another thread.) When I speak other languages (less fluently, of course) I don’t tend to change that much either, probably because I’m used to switching back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/11 "2001-08-29T00:40:14Z")
Not a complete change, but certainly my mannerisms, hand waving even I’m told some facial expressions change when I speak Chinese. Certainly half of my speaking day is in Chinese and not English. My Japanese isn’t nearly as fluent, but I certainly have some changes there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/12 "2001-08-29T03:41:01Z")
Oh yeah, Japanese is a language with many complex levels of politeness, and self-effacement and deference are the rules of the game. I’m sure it will come as a shock to SDMB readers that when I speak in Japanese, I’m the most polite, reserved, groveling person you could ever meet. ---
**Author:** ![celestina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@celestina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/celestina)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/13 "2001-08-29T04:09:46Z")
Whenever I speak in a foreign language, my personality changes from me being silly. I become very serious, very aware of making eye contact, and VERY polite. I think I’m more at ease when I speak Spanish because I’ve been around that language longer than I have Japanese. When I speak Japanese, I’m very timid and yet very serious, and my whole body language changes. I bow, I don’t slouch, I’m very careful of where my hands are because the last thing I want to do is to give offense, but I find that I do tend to gesture more than usual. I LOVE the challenge of learning and speaking a foreign language. 🙂 But you know the more I think of it, my personality changes when I speak English too. It depends on who I’m speaking to. If it’s an authority figure, I speak Standard American English (SAE), and I’m very serious. If it’s friends or family, I speak Southern Black English Vernacualar (BEV). Sometimes I’m not sure what variety of English I’m speaking. ---
**Author:** ![maryliza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dfb087/32.png) [@maryliza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maryliza)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/14 "2001-08-29T10:14:07Z")
My facial gestures change when I speak French. I shrug more. My personality… well, not so much. I do have a harder time making jokes, or inserting sarcastic comments into conversations because often I lack cultural references. I hate, on the other hand, interacting with francophones and anglophones at the same time because I tend to get confused and speak the wrong language to the wrong person. Most of the time I have no problem with that, since it seems like I flip a switch in my brain when I speak French. I can’t for the life of me pronounce French with an American accent. I have to use different mouth muscles to speak French-- and it’s so ingrained now that I have to make a concious effort (when speaking to anglophones) to say “The Eyefull Tower” instead of “la toor eefel” for example. N’empeche que… sometimes while THINKING about what I am going to say, I often come up with something in the wrong language and have to correct myself at the last second. Works both ways and can be very frustrating. Adam Gopnik said “You breathe in your first language and swim in your second”. I agree, wholeheartedly. I’m learning Arabic now, we’ll see how that goes! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/15 "2001-08-29T10:23:06Z")
I’ll be the odd one out: I don’t believe my personality changes significantly when I switch from English to Norwegian or vice-versa. ---
**Author:** ![teigra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@teigra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teigra)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/16 "2001-08-29T10:50:09Z")
I think that your way of behaving changes a bit. Not your personality. You’re still the same person. The expressions in your face will change(as mentioned earlier) I gesture more when speaking Spanish. And when I try to speak Russian, I always get Spanish words first and sometimes can’t figure out the right Russian one before next morning. I speak slower when I am speaking in Finnish. It is very similar to my native language Estonian so it is very easy to make mistakes. But I have noticed that I start to think in the language that I’ve been using for a while. It makes the conversation faster. It’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![Gartog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/17 "2001-08-29T11:24:20Z")
I don’t speak any other languages fluently, but I have noticed that the way I speak English changes depending who I am with and where I am - as if I’m trying to match the person I’m speaking too. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/18 "2001-08-29T11:48:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > \*\*I’ll be the odd one out: I don’t believe my personality changes significantly when I switch from English to Norwegian or vice-versa. \*\* Perhaps because you learnt english very early? (just a guess) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/19 "2001-08-29T15:03:09Z")
I noticed people with bipolar personalities learning sign language from me & using it seem to access another area of their brain & thus, come through in a much better mental way Weirdest thing I ever saw too. There is probably some science to it but at any rate, enroll those emtionally tricky people you know into sign language classes & see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515/20 "2001-08-29T15:05:23Z")
I hadn’t really noticed one way or the other, but that’s probably because I don’t speak other languages as often as I’d like. Of course now that I have Russian and West African co-workers that’ll change somewhat; I’ll try to keep an eye on what changes, if anything, and come back with observations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personality-change-when-speaking-another-language/78515.md?page=2)