A friend who was visiting from the United States listened to me speaking Turkish with merchants in the Grand Bazaar and then translating our negotiations in Turkish into English for his benefit. “How do you talk in one language and then translate into another one so quickly?” he asked. “What language do you think in while you're talking?” |
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Until he asked me this, I had not given much thought to which language I function in while speaking. I explained that when conversing in Turkish, I think in Turkish, and when using English, I think in English. Because my friend is monolingual, he found it intriguing that people who speak two or more languages are able to think in a language that is not their native tongue. My son and I both were raised speaking two languages at home, so for both of us, as bilinguals from the start, it is normal to think in the language we are using. There is no conscious switching over to another language, but rather, it is an automatic action. Even though I am still far from fluent in Turkish, I often have internal dialogues in Turkish instead of English. I have noticed my son does the same thing, sometimes talking to himself in English, sometimes in Turkish. Both of us also dream in different languages -- my son in Turkish and English, while I dream in English, Spanish, Turkish and sometimes even Arabic. I spoke about this phenomenon with a friend who is a linguist and he explained that this is completely normal and in fact, the desired goal when studying a new language. There is not set amount of time or fluency level that needs to be reached before a student begins to think in another language. It varies from person to person and depends on how much time and effort students put into immersing themselves into the language. For instance, within a few months some students may begin thinking in a new language instead of translating in their head into their native tongue. Other students will take longer. There is no set timeframe, but depends on each individual. When I speak English to the Turkish students in my son's fifth grade class, I can tell that some of them are beginning to think in English, while others are still listening to the English and translating it into Turkish before responding. The students are also now learning German and Mandarin. If they continue with their studies, eventually all the students should be able to switch between all four languages as they become more confident and fluent. It is interesting to watch my son as he begins learning the two new languages. As he grasps new words and phrases in German and Mandarin, he is starting to see objects in different ways. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before he begins to think in another language. Learning a new language is not just about learning the words. Instead, one is required to think with a new set of labels for everything around them. Recognizing this, many language courses use pictures and symbols to illustrate the meanings of new words instead of handing out vocabulary lists with translations into one's native language. Using pictures or symbols to teach words helps students to gradually change the labels they have for the world around them. For instance, when I began learning Turkish, I put notes on items throughout the house with the Turkish name written on it. By seeing the notes every day, I began to think of different objects by the Turkish name without translating it first from English. A table automatically became “masa,” the cupboard became “dolap.” This was my first step in not only learning the vocabulary in Turkish, but also the beginning of thinking in Turkish. Learning to think in a different language is a process that cannot be rushed. It takes time for the mind to adjust to a new language. However, with effort and perseverance, it will happen. Over the many years that I have studied foreign languages, I have felt a sense of accomplishment when I suddenly realized that I was communicating without translating back and forth between my native tongue and the new language. I had found that eventually I not only think in another language, but I begin unconsciously employing the facial expressions and body motions used by native speakers as well. My monolingual friend found it hard to grasp the idea that people can think as well as speak in different languages, but it is a natural occurrence. While I still struggle daily with Turkish, I know that slowly I understand more of what goes on around me. Learning to think in Turkish was a major step in communication. |
Showing posts with label Speak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speak. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thinking in different languages
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Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thinking in a Foreign Language Makes Decisions More Rational
To judge a risk more clearly, it may help to consider it in a foreign language.
A series of experiments on more than 300 people from the U.S. and
Korea found that thinking in a second language reduced deep-seated,
misleading biases that unduly influence how risks and benefits are
perceived.
“Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would
in your native tongue?” asked psychologists led by Boaz Keysar of the
University of Chicago in an April 18 Psychological Science study.
“It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices
regardless of the language they are using, or that the difficulty of
using a foreign language would make decisions less systematic. We
discovered, however, that the opposite is true: Using a foreign language
reduces decision-making biases,” wrote Keysar’s team.
Psychologists say human reasoning is shaped by two distinct modes of thought: one that’s systematic, analytical and cognition-intensive, and another that’s fast, unconscious and emotionally charged.
'Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language?'
In light of this, it’s plausible that the cognitive demands
of thinking in a non-native, non-automatic language would leave people
with little leftover mental horsepower, ultimately increasing their
reliance on quick-and-dirty cogitation.
Equally plausible, however, is that communicating in a learned language forces people to be deliberate,
reducing the role of potentially unreliable instinct. Research also
shows that immediate emotional reactions to emotively charged words are muted in non-native languages, further hinting at deliberation.
To investigate these possibilities, Keysar’s team developed several
tests based on scenarios originally proposed by psychologist Daniel
Kahneman, who in 2002 won a Nobel Prize in economics for his work on prospect theory, which describes how people intuitively perceive risk.
In one famous example, Kahneman showed that, given the hypothetical
option of saving 200 out of 600 lives, or taking a chance that would
either save all 600 lives or none at all, people prefer to save the 200 —
yet when the problem is framed in terms of losing lives, many more people prefer the all-or-nothing chance rather than accept a guaranteed loss of 400 lives.
People are, in a nutshell, instinctively risk-averse when considering gain and risk-taking when faced with loss,
even when the essential decision is the same. It’s a gut-level human
predisposition, and if second-language thinking made people think less
systematically, Keysar’s team supposed the tendency would be magnified.
Conversely, if second-language thinking promoted deliberation, the
tendency would be diminished.
The first experiment involved 121 American students who learned
Japanese as a second language. Some were presented in English with a
hypothetical choice: To fight a disease that would kill 600,000 people,
doctors could either develop a medicine that saved 200,000 lives, or a
medicine with a 33.3 percent chance of saving 600,000 lives and a 66.6
percent chance of saving no lives at all.
Nearly 80 percent of the students chose the safe option. When the
problem was framed in terms of losing rather than saving lives, the
safe-option number dropped to 47 percent. When considering the same
situation in Japanese, however, the safe-option number hovered around 40
percent, regardless of how choices were framed. The role of instinct
appeared reduced.
Two subsequent experiments in which the hypothetical situation
involved job loss rather than death, administered to 144 native Korean
speakers from Korea’s Chung Nam National University and 103 English
speakers studying abroad in Paris, found the same pattern of enhanced
deliberation. “Using a foreign language diminishes the framing effect,”
wrote Keysar’s team.
The researchers next tested how language affected decisions on
matters of direct personal import. According to prospect theory, the
possibility of small losses outweigh the promise of larger gains, a
phenomenon called myopic risk aversion and rooted in emotional reactions to the idea of loss.
The same group of Korean students was presented with a series of
hypothetical low-loss, high-gain bets. When offered bets in Korean, just
57 percent took them. When offered in English, that number rose to 67
percent, again suggesting heightened deliberation in a second language.
To see if the effect held up in real-world betting, Keysar’s team
recruited 54 University of Chicago students who spoke Spanish as a
second language. Each received $15 in $1 bills, each of which could be
kept or bet on a coin toss. If they lost a toss, they’d lose the dollar,
but winning returned the dollar and another $1.50 — a proposition that,
over multiple bets, would likely be profitable.
When the proceedings were conducted in English, just 54 percent of
students took the bets, a number that rose to 71 percent when betting in
Spanish. “They take more bets in a foreign language because they expect
to gain in the long run, and are less affected by the typically
exaggerated aversion to losses,” wrote Keysar and colleagues.
The researchers believe a second language provides a useful cognitive
distance from automatic processes, promoting analytical thought and
reducing unthinking, emotional reaction.
“Given that more and more people use a foreign language on a daily
basis, our discovery could have far-reaching implications,” they wrote,
suggesting that people who speak a second language might use it when
considering financial decisions. “Over a long time horizon, this might
very well be beneficial.”
Citation: “The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue
Reduces Decision Biases.” By Boaz Keysar, Sayuri L. Hayakawa and Sun
Gyu An. Psychological Science, published online 18 April 2012.
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Sunday, September 30, 2012
Benefits of Reading
Benefits of Reading
With the popularity of computers and video games in recent times,
habit of reading has taken a backseat. Most parents and children are so
occupied in watching movies, television and addicted to computer games
that they find little or no time for reading. However those who have
developed reading as a hobby are aware of the countless advantages
associated with it. Reading broadens the thinking horizon of a person,
improves vocabulary and cultivates sensitivity towards people of
different cultures.
Benefits associated with reading
1.Exercises your mind.
Reading bends loosens and supple the mind. It helps in keeping the muscles of the brain in good shape.
2.Gives satisfaction
Reading gives immense satisfaction to a person. Nothing can be more satisfying than to sit with your child and read him a story book, or to see him grow with the fairy tales.
3.Expands the imagination
Reading expands the imagination of a person. One becomes more confident, self assured of his ability to understand and appreciate the various aspects of life. The mind is channelized to think about the different aspects and then questions and derives conclusions about them.
4.Enhances the ability to focus
The mind of a reader is more concentrated and focused about various aspects of life. When the mind is focused it has the capability to be more attentive in practical situations of life. As a result the body and mind of such people remain calm; they look at the problem objectively and are better decision makers.
5.Improves knowledge
Reading improves a person’s knowledge about various fields of life. This
knowledge base helps a person to make correct decisions in different
situations of life.
6.Helps to achieve goals in life
People who develop reading habit since childhood are better able to decide their goals in life. Reading also helps them in achieving these goals because once a person gets in love with books it is easier for him to just switch over from general reading to their course books.
7.Produces efficient orators
Only those who know something of quality can speak and gains respect and recognition from people. People with scarce knowledge about a subject cannot be good orators.
8.Teaches the art of living
Reading biographies of legendary individuals help the reader to learn the art of living.
9.Helps to accept other cultures and religions.
Just having information about other cultures might create misconceptions about their traditions and mythologies. A thorough reading gives clarity about the fundamentals of other religions. This helps the person to accept them in a better and overwhelming manner.
So instead of killing long hours watching television and playing
games on computer spend some time in reading so that you not only
refresh you mind but also develop a good hobby which you will later on
transfer to your children.
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