| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Do you have different personalities depending on the language you are speaking? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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jacana54 (X) 
Uruguay
English to Spanish
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| With Patricia: lower voice | Aug 22, 2011 |
When I speak in English I use a lower voice, just because the other people speaking in English will be doing so and I don't want to be rude. In Spanish I think we tend to speak more loudly and be more assertive... A change in manners rather than personality
The imitation effect that others have mentioned is also important. When I go to other parts of my country, Uruguay, where people have a different intonation, I p... See more When I speak in English I use a lower voice, just because the other people speaking in English will be doing so and I don't want to be rude. In Spanish I think we tend to speak more loudly and be more assertive... A change in manners rather than personality
The imitation effect that others have mentioned is also important. When I go to other parts of my country, Uruguay, where people have a different intonation, I pick it up within minutes... This can happen all the way to Buenos Aires but not in the Argentine provinces or Chile!!! John suggests that this has to do with trying to blend in, and he's probably right, but I do it almost unconsciously... actually I always want to laugh when I realize that I'm doing it.
[Edited at 2011-08-22 12:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | My voice changes and my behaviour. | Aug 22, 2011 |
I moved from England to France when I was 13 (I'm now 31). There are both changes in my voice, which is definitely higher pitched when I speak in English than when I speak French, and in my behaviour. When in the UK or socialising with English-speaking people, the way I act, my jokes, mimicks and all sorts of things come out differently compared to when I'm in France or speaking with French people. Moreover, having lived in Italy for over 6 years, my hand gestures are certainly more common when ... See more I moved from England to France when I was 13 (I'm now 31). There are both changes in my voice, which is definitely higher pitched when I speak in English than when I speak French, and in my behaviour. When in the UK or socialising with English-speaking people, the way I act, my jokes, mimicks and all sorts of things come out differently compared to when I'm in France or speaking with French people. Moreover, having lived in Italy for over 6 years, my hand gestures are certainly more common when I speak Italian. Plus, I am a Gemini!!! ▲ Collapse
| | | | keelin feeney
Ireland
Local time: 00:01
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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I think we speak in a higher tone when we speak in a foreign language and we also adjust our expression to that of the country. This may not change our own personality but it certainly changes the way we sound to the listener, which may give across the idea that we have one personality when in fact we have another, but we are adapting our expression to the foreign language that we are using.
| | | | Caro Maucher
Germany
Local time: 01:01
Member (2005)
English to German
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| I answered 'yes' | Aug 22, 2011 |
I believe I tend to be more smart-ass in English than in German. I think it's because the language lends itself more easily to puns, and I quite enjoy it.
Maybe speaking another language is like wearing a costume at a carnival - we're more relaxed and more out-spoken because we think we can get away with it.
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Like others, I do not believe that my personality changes, but I do think that others' perception of us changes depending on the language we are speaking.
The first year I lived in Italy, I shared an apartment with a Greek. After about 10 months of only speaking Italian with him (he didn't speak English), I had friends over from the US to visit, and he commented that he liked my personality more when I spoke English, even though he couldn't understand what I was saying.
I agre... See more Like others, I do not believe that my personality changes, but I do think that others' perception of us changes depending on the language we are speaking.
The first year I lived in Italy, I shared an apartment with a Greek. After about 10 months of only speaking Italian with him (he didn't speak English), I had friends over from the US to visit, and he commented that he liked my personality more when I spoke English, even though he couldn't understand what I was saying.
I agree with Lucia as well about unconsciously imitating people. I do this in Brazil all the time with my sister-in-law, who is from a different region than the rest of my family there. I think it is natural to imitate the speech of others when we are in a different culture, though. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 01:01
Member (2009)
English to German
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| Yes, it does. | Aug 22, 2011 |
Natali Lekka wrote:
Don't you sometimes feel that even your voice changes when you speak another language?
And also its medlody or rhythm. Good point, Natilia.
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:01
Flemish to English
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Although every language has its own tone, intonation and gestures.
Most certainly true for Spanish, where women say "hombre" (man) to each other in a loud voice.
If you don't master the four tones of Chinese, people will not understand you.
Chinese people tend to talk loudly.
Whether I speak Dutch, English, French, Spanish or German, there will always be some irony in my sentences. But that is due to my character.
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 00:01
| My voice changes too. | Aug 22, 2011 |
In my native English my voice is deeper and better modulated than in Portuguese. I sometimes do not recognise myself when I "listen" to myself in Portuguese. I think I have managed to convey both the fun-loving and serious aspects of my personality in Portuguese, but tend to be more direct about it, since I have not yet mastered the fine art of nuance. As others have said, other people's perception may differ slightly depending on what language their encounters with me are.
I don't have a ... See more In my native English my voice is deeper and better modulated than in Portuguese. I sometimes do not recognise myself when I "listen" to myself in Portuguese. I think I have managed to convey both the fun-loving and serious aspects of my personality in Portuguese, but tend to be more direct about it, since I have not yet mastered the fine art of nuance. As others have said, other people's perception may differ slightly depending on what language their encounters with me are.
I don't have a personality in French or German. ▲ Collapse
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| Definitely yes | Aug 22, 2011 |
Very good and interesting question. I completely change when I speak another language and see the same in my son when he speaks English and a friend of mine. When she speaks German she has a completely different expression on her face. This is a very interesting subject and wish there were some publications on it!
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In Swedish (my mothertongue) I tend to be rather quiet and speak slowly, since that's inherent to my Northern dialect - it's almost impossible to speak quickly in this dialect and a lot of monosyllable words are used instead of full sentences.
In Italian (which is my everyday language) I'm much a more talkative person, I gesture much more and I state my point in a far more decisive way! And I probably come across as a much more "pushy" personality!
When I speak English ... See more In Swedish (my mothertongue) I tend to be rather quiet and speak slowly, since that's inherent to my Northern dialect - it's almost impossible to speak quickly in this dialect and a lot of monosyllable words are used instead of full sentences.
In Italian (which is my everyday language) I'm much a more talkative person, I gesture much more and I state my point in a far more decisive way! And I probably come across as a much more "pushy" personality!
When I speak English it's generally in a teaching context, so I tend to be very explicative and clear and I believe it's somewhere in between my Swedish and Italian personalities.
It's true that even though the basic personality does not change, I believe that different languages allow us to think in different patterns and express ourselves in different ways, and maybe it allows us (me) to express different sides of the same personality? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Rather a different voice for the same person | Aug 22, 2011 |
I agree with several others: it is not quite the personality that changes, but certainly one is able to express ideas and feelings in a different way when speaking in a different language... sometimes even the ideas and feelings are different! Each language encompasses a vision of the world, a vision of reality; each language is a very complex mesh of concepts and construction of meaning and not one will be the exact reproduction of another.
That is part of the fascination of worki... See more I agree with several others: it is not quite the personality that changes, but certainly one is able to express ideas and feelings in a different way when speaking in a different language... sometimes even the ideas and feelings are different! Each language encompasses a vision of the world, a vision of reality; each language is a very complex mesh of concepts and construction of meaning and not one will be the exact reproduction of another.
That is part of the fascination of working with different languages. So I believe that a foreing language allows us to find forms of expression, or concepts and feelings to express, that are within us but we had not found in our native language.
I am a writer as well and I find that when I switch from one genre to the other (poetry to fiction, for instance), it is still my (literary) "voice" that is speaking, yet each genre allows it to express things in a way that the other doesn't. When I write in English I have the same sensation--it is like exploring yet another genre, another part of that voice of mine... very mysterious. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 01:01
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
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| I feel different | Aug 22, 2011 |
... when speaking Portuguese. I feel more extrovert, tend to be louder too.
I also find it easier to talk about some things, eg express myself when feeling vulnerable, in Portuguese than in English or Dutch, although being businesslike is easier in Dutch and, to some extent, in English. Praying works best in Portuguese and Dutch.
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I think I'm a bit more polite in English than in Serbian.
| | | | Kiwiland Bear
New Zealand
Local time: 11:01
Russian to English
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Sophie Dzhygir wrote: Natali Lekka wrote:
Don't you sometimes feel that even your voice changes when you speak another language?
Yes, voice changes a bit when you speak a foreign language, I think it's even been proved that one speaks with higher notes in a foreign language. But I would not call that a change of personnality! 
I would.
When I hear my own wife speak over the phone in English, I thank God this isn't the person I'm married to)
| | | | Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 19:01
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
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| English versus Spanish | Aug 23, 2011 |
I certainly cuss more in Spanish than I do in English. And I think my sense of humor is slightly different in Spanish, though the two senses of humor have converged as I've become more bicultural.
John Cutler wrote:
Someone told me years ago that my voice was deeper when I was speaking English than when speaking Spanish or Catalan.
Other way around for me. When talking Spanish in Spain I sometimes drop into a slightly deeper voice than I would use in English. Hadn't given it much thought before but I'm pretty sure that's what I do.
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