Job Discussion Forums

[gaijinalways]

On the 'married to a foreigner part 2' thread, a few posters mentioned about a person's personality changing when a foreign language is used. I was wondering what you thought about that.

I personally think it is possible, partly depending on the person's identification with the other language. I remember one student, a strong intermediate to upper intermediate student, who thought her personality in the US was too assertive for Japan. Another student said her boyfriend preferred her to speak in her L1 as her personality wasn't 'natural' when she was speaking English.

I sometimes wonder about my wife as her personality does seem different at times. When speaking English, she seems more timid in front of others, but more assertive when just speaking with me (group pressure? ). Whereas in Japanese, she is more assertive in both situations.

Of course, a person's confidence in their language abilities will probably influence their tendency to use a language, though sometimes it may have to do with a person's persoanl feeling toward a language.

For example, a professor was abroad at a German university for 5 years, and he thought one of the professors didn't speak English or not very much English. Only just prior to leaving, where a topic came up that he couldn't express very well in German, did the German professor in question reluctantly supply the correct words in English in great detail (to the great surprise of the British professor). When asked why he (the German professor) hadn't used and acknowledged for over 5 years that he did indeed understand and speak English quite well, the German professor replied, "I don't like using English, and besides, how else would your German improve?!"

[denise]

I remember reading about the shyness factor. People tend to feel more timid because of a lack of control over the language or even frustrated because they can't express themselves properly. If you don't have the right vocabulary maybe you can't adequately discuss your job, hobbies, political opinions, or whatever... you can't show a certain side of yourself. And if you don't have enough proficiency people might just think you're uneducated or just plain stupid.

I actually felt like sometimes I was chattier (is that a word?!?) in Spanish. I'm a fairly shy person, but when I was in Peru I really wanted opportunities to practice my speaking, so sometimes (not always) I would just ramble, say things that I didn't really believe in, etc., just for language practice. On those occasions my life was sort of like a classroom role-play, I guess.

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[naturegirl321]

I know use Spanish at home with my husband and only English at school. So I feel more comfortable having conversations in Spanish. I feel that I've forgotten Engilsh vocab, in the sense that my English vocab has decreased a bit, but my Spanish has increased. And since I'm used to having problems in Spanish, I don't mind when I have them. But I'm not used to not being able to express myself in English and it frustrates me when I can't.
So when I speak Spanish, I feel more confident.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

More kids in Japan are learning English from native English teachers than ever before. The behaviour of kids in Japan is worse than ever before. Therefore it is the influence of the foreigners that is making the kids behave badly.


Do you agree with this? That's what this poll is asking.

[naturegirl321]

[MELEE]

I voted sometimes.

I think for some people, using a foriegn language can be like a roll play. I have seen some people who are more timid when using a foriegn language and some people who are more extroverted.

I've been studying Spanish for 21 years now! And using it on a daily bases for 10. I no longer feel like I'm different when I speak Spanish, but I went through a phase when I did. I even used to feel like my voice sounded different in Spanish. I think I used a higher, uncertain tone all the time because I wasn't certain about what I was saying. I'm glad that phase has passed!

I also am more likely to not express my true beliefs and ideas when having a casaul conversation with a stranger or near stranger in their home country, no matter if the conversation is in English, or Spanish or Japanese. I'm not entirely sure why I do this. I guess it's a strong desire not to offend, to be a gracious guest in their country, whatever. But is has been a problem in the past when talking to men. A casual conversation with a seat mate on a long distance bus might end with us arriving at our destination and him declaring that he has to see me again because he's fallen in love with me! And I'm like, but you don't know me at all. He's says yes, we've been having a heart to heart for the last three hours. Then I'm forced to admit I haven't been completely open and honest with him, I just didn't want to get into a heated political-relegions-moral debate with a strange man on a bus. I don't think it has to do with speaking in a foreign langauge, it's about being a visitor.

[gaijinalways]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I realized that I was going at it from a different angle than what was originally intended, but if using an L2 (as aopposed to being in a foreign country and culture for an extended period of time) changes adults (us), then surely it should change teenagers (them) as well... right?

[gaijinalways]

GambateBingBangBOOM posted

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I didn't say I agreed with it, I just said that that's what this poll was asking. And I have had conversations with middle aged Japanese people during which they have told me that they firmly believe that it is because of foreigners (language, customs movies) that the behaviour of Japanese kids is so poor.

[gaijinalways]

[Nutmegger]