Do we have an alter ego when speaking a different language?

Yating X

Oral English class was one of my favourite courses when I was pursuing my undergraduate studies in China, because this was the only course where we were supposed to talk only in English. Back then, I enjoyed speaking English more than my native language, Mandarin, because when speaking the former, I could always see a different side of me, a more confident and outgoing self. And the comment I received most from my classmates at that time was “You look so different when you speak English.” 

I have noticed this phenomenon very distinctly in myself. Even though English is my second language and sometimes I even had some difficulties expressing myself very fluently and clearly due to my limited language proficiency, I still found myself being more expressive and passionate when speaking it, which intrigued me to ponder the question: Do we really have a secondary personality when speaking another language?

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