Different languages, different personalities

Different personalities come along with each different language. (Korea.net DB)

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Tanya Mokrina

Have you ever felt your personality change as you switch between languages?

Studies show that we have different personalities when we speak different languages.

In 1998, Michel Coven, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, spent a year and a half conducting ethnographic research with bilingual Parisian adults whose parents emigrated from Portugal. Coven focused specifically on how subjects presented themselves in the stories of personal experience that she had caused, asking them to talk about various life events in both languages. When Coven decoded and analyzed the content of her stories, she saw that her subjects emphasized different traits in their characters depending on what language they spoke. For example, women in French stories were more likely to defend their interests, while female characters in Portuguese narratives were generally inferior to those of others. Their personalities also changed.

Here's a little bit of fact. Greeks tend to interrupt a lot, and that connects to the fact that Greeks start their sentences with the word that gives the most information about the sentence so that they can interrupt the person and move on. At the same time, this model doesn't work in Korean at all due to big fundamental differences. Korean puts the most important information at the very end of the sentence, so anything that will determine the character of the sentence will come at the end. 

This shows that the behavior of those who learn several languages changes according to the language they use. I've experienced this phenomenon first-hand, and so has my Korean alterego. I am an ethnic Korean citizen of Russia. My native language is Russian, but I also studied Korean at university. My friends always say that when I speak Korean, it's like something changes inside of me, as if my "Korean self" is waking up and my "Russian self" takes a rest.

It seems to me that Koreans are very emotional and impatient by their nature. The Korean people have a “hurry hurry” (빨리빨리, or ppali-ppali) outlook on life where they get things done as quickly as possible. This has become a part of Korean DNA. Koreans are extremely emotional in all facets of life. This can be seen on various Korean TV shows and Korean magazines. The Korean people are not ashamed of showing their true feelings. I actually like this, and don’t find it inappropriate, awkward or something odd, as it means that you're always honest with the people with whom you interact.

My friends say that when speaking Korean, I tend to talk faster, I become more emotional and always use all kinds of Korean interjections and onomatopoeia.

I guess I'm more emotional and modest in Korean than I am in Russian or English. For example, when my Korean friends ask questions about my boyfriend, I start blushing. Another thing: when I try to speak Korean, I always use overly cute and submissive female-only grammar constructions (called aegyo, or 애교 in Korea). I don't do this on purpose. It turns on by itself. I've noticed that sometimes I use these cute and submissive grammar constructions when I speak Russian, too, but never in English. You can ask me why. Well, honestly, I have no idea. As I said, it just happens by itself.

Some of my friends have had the same realization. One friend whose native language is Russian also speaks English fairly well. When she speaks in Russian, she is very stubborn, more calm and quiet, and less articulate. However, when she speaks English, she becomes a completely different person. Her English self turns out to be much colder and more confident. She always knows what to do.

This is why I think learning foreign languages more or less affects your habits. When I started learning Korean, I had to become more sensitive toward the number four, as it's considered to be unlucky. This has an influence on the way you express your thoughts. It also gives you a new perspective and allows you to see the world from another point of view.

Through learning foreign languages, I acquired several personalities. It doesn't frighten me at all. I don't think that this is something terrible that needs to be avoided. It's like playing a game that I enjoy. At this moment, in my head, pops up the words of the great English writer William Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players.”

wisdom117@korea.kr

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