Tag Archives: curious

Crazy Outbursts, Lessons Learned, My articles / researches, My Life, Steffi Says

Which language do you think with?

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This is a weird one, I know.

I have been, for years on end now, thinking and “talking to myself” in a foreign language. By foreign language, I mean English. Malta is a bilingual country, and in fact we start learning English at the young age of six. I always loved the language and the literature that came with it. I always carried a book with me and preferred British TV and movies over Italian (I’m mentioning Italian because all of my friends watched Italian TV when I was growing up).

homer-simpson-thinking

Although I love the English language, I knew that there is one barrier that I won’t be able to surpass. This is, because even though I know that my spoken and written English is better than the average Joe’s, I will never have enough practice verbally to become super fluent and master it as it was my first language.

It was in 2011, when things changed for me. Leaving Malta meant that I had to leave my mother tongue behind (to an extend). When I landed in Manchester airport, I knew that at this point,  I have to deal with people in English. I think, that this is when my head decided that I should start thinking in English. I think, this was rather beneficial (yes, I googled it):

  • Apparently, if you think in a foreign language, you are not only practicing the language itself but also learning new vocabulary. It’s almost like when you are reading a book for the very first time.
  • Another reason according to a study is that since a foreign language provides psychological distance because you need to make a bit of an effort to use it, it will affect your reasoning and decision making in the sense that they become less biased, more analytic, and more systematic.

In reality, in my daily life, unless I am speaking with my friends and colleagues, everything else is done using the English language, which means that I was very surprised that it took my brain this long to switch languages:

  • Reading news, blogs, articles
  • Google searches are conducted in English
  • Reading Books
  • Listening to music
  • Making use of laptops (or computers) and phones using an English interface
  • Watching TV, Movies and Series

Am I the only one who took this leap? Do you think in your native language or did you choose another familiar language to do so? I want to know! 🙂

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//Obviously this is targeted to users who can speak multiple languages rather than just the one.

Lessons Learned, My articles / researches, Steffi Says

Have you ever wondered why some people are more curious than others?

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curiosity…Well, I did. So I researched the topic, to try and understand this phenomenon.

Being curious is much related to the exploratory behaviour of a person in his early life. Some of us are more interested in familiarity, others feel the need to be subjected to new experiences and the novelty of life. According to research the brain structure is different depending on how you were raised and whether one is more drawn towards novelty or towards familiarity.

As a trait, being curious make you more aware of the changes going on both inside you and around you. When something is of interest you are more often then not head over heels about it and explore it to the depth, and beyond when possible. Being curious works hand in hand with intelligence as when one is curious, one reads and learns. They are better at maintaining relationships, not just because they have more to talk about, but because they have an attitude of openness, passion and interest, which decreases the odds of becoming bored of each other.

When one stops being curious and showing interest in the things around him, then one can say that his way of thinking is polluted. This would affect a person’s creativity, problem solving skills as well as feeling disconnected from others. They would fear the unknown, getting to know new people and will be stuck in a world of their own. Not in the good kind of way; they will hold onto the past because that is familiar.

And till this day, I keep wondering, and thinking. Why was life so much slower when I was younger? Time does not go by faster now, but sure feels like it! I ask myself, how people can not be curious? Why some don’t question life after death? How can you believe that heaven exists, when there’s no proof? Although, that would be nice, and would give me comfort at night.

curiosity1

What is on your mind? What are you curious about?