Comments on: Thinking in Other Languages

By: More on How Language Informs Thought Process | RW3 CultureWizard

More on How Language Informs Thought Process | RW3 CultureWizard — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:13:11 +0000

[...] ideas in a Wall Street Journal article that ran in July called “Lost in Translation” (here is our take on that article). His essential point is that: ‘Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not [...]

By: Shelley

Shelley — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:31:03 +0000

yes, having worked many years doing intercultural communication training at the German – American interface, I know an important piece to address is differing thinking styles. When asked to map out their approachs to thinking, analyzing and processing information, groups of Americans and groups of Germans come up with very different (but very predictable) patterns. Understanding these patterns makes doing business across borders much easier.

By: Lars

Lars — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:56:58 +0000

Great article! I am working for a multinational company in Germany. My mother tongue is German, but at least half of a day I have to talk English. I often realized that native English speakers did not conceive the meaning of what I was saying. This was not because I used the wrong words or grammar. It was just that I tried to translate “German thinking” into English.

By: Kathleen MacConaill

Kathleen MacConaill — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:20:18 +0000

I am fluent in Frenach and Enlgish (mother tongue is French), and think in both languages. I haven’t noticed having different thought patterns when thinking in Enlgish compared to French, but that may simply be because French and English are fairly close culturally. I do know that when I think about work-related subjects and situations, I think in English since I’ve always worked in English. Similarly, if I’m thinking about a person, conversation, or situation, the language I think in depends on the language I was using with that person or during the conversation or situation. As a result, although I am fluently bilingual, and have been for a very long time, I find I’m actually not all that good at translating between the two languages. Which actually seems to corroborate the info in this article!

By: LUIS ABAID

LUIS ABAID — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:33:48 +0000

Great article!!! This is a very interesting topic and something we really don’t know much about, I would love to receive further information on this!!

By: Alistair Halpern

Alistair Halpern — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:04:51 +0000

I’ve asked people who are multi lingual if they think differently when speaking in different languages. It seems to depend on how long they have been bilingual for. Have there been any studies into this?