Thinking, Language and Intelligence
Introduction to Psychology_Application Paper
Chapter 9 Thinking, Language and Intelligence
In this paper, I am going to write about how language and thought are closely related to each other. The reason I am highly interested on the topic “Thinking & Language” is because I speak 7 languages, and I realized that my personality, thinking, attitude and behavior change with the language I speak. I feel like there are many versions of “ME”.
What I experienced in speaking 7 different languages is that there are certain things that are just untranslatable between languages. In order to convey the same thought or message in different languages, I can’t directly translate word to word instead I have to use words that are appropriate in that language. Many times, there are meanings that express differently in different languages, with the result that same event is described differently, depending on the language in which I use. Utterances are not filmclips of an event (Slobin, 2003, p. 159) Rather, Utterances present a sketch of events, and they include different features of the events, depending on the language.
I find when I am speaking Mandarin, I feel like I am much more a “noisy” and “harsh” person. In English, I feel like I am more a “relaxed”, “cool” and “extroverted” person. When I am around Japanese and Korean, I find myself a “shy”, “polite” and “reserved” person. In Japanese language and Korean language, people often add “I think” at the end of the sentence after stating their opinion. They have a very indirect way of communicating, for instance, in a typical Japanese sentence, “blah blah blah + と思う(I think)”, in a Korean sentence, “blah blah blah + 같아(seems like / looks like)” these are often the way of expressing one’s idea. When speak in Mandarin and English, I express myself more directly and assertively, while in Japanese language and Korean language I express myself much more indirect and softer which make me feel like an introverted person.
Chapter 9 Thinking, Language and Intelligence
In this paper, I am going to write about how language and thought are closely related to each other. The reason I am highly interested on the topic “Thinking & Language” is because I speak 7 languages, and I realized that my personality, thinking, attitude and behavior change with the language I speak. I feel like there are many versions of “ME”.
What I experienced in speaking 7 different languages is that there are certain things that are just untranslatable between languages. In order to convey the same thought or message in different languages, I can’t directly translate word to word instead I have to use words that are appropriate in that language. Many times, there are meanings that express differently in different languages, with the result that same event is described differently, depending on the language in which I use. Utterances are not filmclips of an event (Slobin, 2003, p. 159) Rather, Utterances present a sketch of events, and they include different features of the events, depending on the language.
I find when I am speaking Mandarin, I feel like I am much more a “noisy” and “harsh” person. In English, I feel like I am more a “relaxed”, “cool” and “extroverted” person. When I am around Japanese and Korean, I find myself a “shy”, “polite” and “reserved” person. In Japanese language and Korean language, people often add “I think” at the end of the sentence after stating their opinion. They have a very indirect way of communicating, for instance, in a typical Japanese sentence, “blah blah blah + と思う(I think)”, in a Korean sentence, “blah blah blah + 같아(seems like / looks like)” these are often the way of expressing one’s idea. When speak in Mandarin and English, I express myself more directly and assertively, while in Japanese language and Korean language I express myself much more indirect and softer which make me feel like an introverted person.
References: Myers, D.G (2009). Exploring Psychology (8th edition). New York, NY, Worth Publishers Erika, H (2009). Language Development (4th edition). USA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning