Where in one language it would be normal to say, “I broke my arm” in another language that sentence would be absurd, as it would imply that a person actively and intentionally took part in breaking their own arm. Language influences our perception (“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.”– Flora Lewis). As a result, they have a strong sense of direction and stay oriented better than humans were thought capable of, purely because their language has trained them to be. They refer to “your south-west leg”, or they would ask you to “move slightly to the north-north-east”. In their language, instead of referring to left and right, everything is referred to in terms of the cardinal directions on a compass. In a Ted Talk I happened across on LinkedIn, Professor Lera Boroditsky (a cognitive scientist) spoke of the Kuuk Thaayorre people.
Simply put, the theory states that the way people think of the world is influenced directly by the language that they use to talk about that world. According to their theory, language, apart from being a communication tool, also determines our perception of reality and even influences our behaviour. With this broad exposure to languages, I knew I had a communication advantage but recently found it interesting to learn that it also gave me a “thinking” advantage.Įdward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf introduced the theory of linguistic relativism. Because of the people I’ve worked with, I also learnt enough Afrikaans to participate in meetings, and I’m now fluent in Xhosa. I learnt that many English words are rooted in French and Latin (“He who knows no foreign language, knows nothing of his own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe). While I studied law, I learnt enough Latin to do well in my exams. Due to an interest in a boy, I learnt a smattering of Tswana. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk once said: “As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being”. What we don’t all know, however, is the fact that the language we use shapes our perception of the world as well our behaviour/actions in reaction to that perception. If you watched The Matrix, you know that there is no reality – there is only perception. The language we use is not only responsible for shaping our perception of the world instead, it too has a significant impact on our financial habits.