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?
This question has also been extensively studied by a lot of linguists and psychologists for decades. However, no consensus has ever been reached so far. As Bonner puts, “the belief that human mental life and the organization of personality are reflected in, or effectively shaped by, the linguistic structure of a people is widely held, but the exact relation between them is difficult to establish with certainty.”
When asked about this question, Ivone, a friend of mine, who can speak very fluently in Mandarin, English and French, said that she has been told more than once by her friends that she felt like a different person to them when speaking different languages. “They said I’m much calmer and more reserved in Mandarin and much extroverted and easy-going when I speak English, sounds like I have multiple personalities, that’s so crazy!” Ivone told me she didn’t think her personality changed with the language she’s speaking and she’s still the same person no matter what language she speaks. But she did mention that she can notice slight changes in her mood every time she switches between the languages. She believed it was because speaking a different language can change the way she feels and thinks. When speaking a different language, she would subconsciously try to imagine the way how native speakers of that certain language talk and think, then tend to express herself in a similar way.
It’s so true that we do more or less behave differently when speaking different languages, but like Ivone said, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a substantive change in our intrinsic personality traits. Learning and speaking a different language can give us a new perspective and thus influence our perception of reality as well as our way of expression. Each language has its own “personality” that is tied to its culture, in this sense, speaking different languages is kind of like acting different roles and perhaps that’s why we often “feel like a different person” when we speak another language.
Reference
Bonner, H. (1961). A psychology series. Psychology of personality. New York, NY, US: Ronald Press Company.
This post is very interesting! I have thought about this before and I also think I tend to show different sides of me when I speak English and Mandarin. I think maybe it’s about the tones in Mandarin that make people sound calmer and serious? I also think this perception is connected with culture because people tend to be more conservative in Chinese Culture and speakers use more facial expressions and gestures when they speak English.
– HS
I really enjoy the topic you bring up Yating X. I have been telling people this for a while, but nobody believed me! Now I can tell people that I am not the only one. I have taught about two or three dozen French classes as a substitute and feel that my personality is much more calm and collected in French because I have to take the time to think about my word choice. I would not go as far to say that my French side is an alter ego, but he is definitely different from my English personality in a few ways…Thanks for the great post!
Shayne Crawford
Interesting concept! It makes sense that there wasn’t a consensus, but it would be neat to see some of their data collection methods, especially how they would have operationalized alter ego. Did you come across anything on linguistic relativity (http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199738632.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199738632-e-38) at all? I’m not sure if I ever feel like I have an alter ego when I’m speaking a different language, but definitely feels like I’m exploring different rooms in a house.
James M.
Thank you for this interesting post. I actually have never thought about this before. And after reading your post, I start to think about my alter ego when speaking different languages. I think I’m just the opposite of your case. I feel I’m very out-going and extroverted when I’m speaking Chinese. But when it comes to speaking English, I tend to be very calm and quiet. And I actually really cannot figure out the reason of such difference.
Yidan
This is such an absolutely fascinating topic. A book I may have mentioned before, Aneta Pavlenko’s “The Bilingual Mind” (Cambridge U. Press 2014) is a good place to start looking at the research. And one of my favourite linguists, Suzette Haden Elgin (the one who wrote the sci-fi series where women linguists save Earth from aliens) said something like this on the topic: “Half the people you ask about different personalities going with different languages say, ‘Are you kidding? Of course!’ and the other half say ‘Are you kidding? Of course not!’ “…I think it was her. But maybe it was Deborah Cameron!