No strings attached, no preconceived emotions. It was as if I had just asked a close friend to give an outside perspective. Strangely enough, switching to a second language with the exact same problem at hand changed my emotions about it. What was fair to ask for? How should I ask? What if my boss asked me to justify why? Just the connection to the word ‘raise’ brought up all sorts of strong emotions. Still, I was pondering the decision like crazy.
It was completely appropriate given the time I had been there and the extra responsibilities I had been taking for a while. So this effectively makes you better at making decisions.įor example, you may have strong emotional ties to what certain words or phrases mean in your native language, without even being aware of it.Ī while back I was in a job where the time had come to ask for a raise or stick with my current salary. It allows you to reframe it in an entirely new context and view it from several new angles. Thinking about a problem in a second language is like having access to a second understanding. You have an easier time just looking at the facts. Whenever facing a new decision bilingual speakers are more likely to reflect upon their options and be less affected by their emotions about it. People speaking more than one language has a tendency to think differently about problems and decisions compared to monolingual speakers. There’s a lot of studying on the bilingual brain that points at learning a second language
0 kommentar(er)
