"To have a second language is to have a second soul." -Charlemagne, for someone who speaks three languages fluently, this is so true. As a trilingual, you watch movies from three different countries, read books from three different languages, learn cultures of three origins, and forge relationships with from diverse cultures. Indeed, when you learn a new language, you acquire a new reality of something different, or a soul. Knowing more than one or two languages also helps you understand the history of humanity and how some cultures and people act and think in different ways.

if you come to indin youll have to know atleast 5 languages to survive (i know 6)

The only language someone needs to be successful is English

Yes you are absolutely correct, I speak 5 languages but never had this thought

i've learned english cause i have portuguese so much.. if i could i would never use it again. what i got from english and really love is sarcasm and dark humor

I speak Hindi Eng my native tongue bhojpuri

Different languages , similar results == there is human layer deeper than the language.

@kronker pepikrankenitz — fewer airplane crashes

@CASSANDRA DARWINIANA FATHER KNOWS BEST You and your wife are anecdotal evidence against studies of several subjects presented by the speaker. And what about the example with the cardinal directions? There, language is definitely influencing how the speaker thinks of their own geographical position. Why shouldn't it affect us in other ways too? Of course language is not the ONLY factor that explains everything about how we think, but it is still worth looking into.

@CASSANDRA DARWINIANA FATHER KNOWS BEST it's not science maybe. But I speak 5 european tongues and my mate 3 european and 2 african tongues. The way things are described from one tongue to another has definitely an impact on how you see / do things. For first in one african tongue time has no meaning and is described in a very fuzy way: " hello how are you today = are you well awaken since you slept" or also " see you later = it makes one day or the other" and I can guarantee you it impacts everyday life.

@CASSANDRA DARWINIANA FATHER KNOWS BEST "They do speak differently because they think differently." => To a degree, yes. But the language encourages you to think certain way, or discourages you to think in another way. It is also difficult to think certain ideas, if the language simply doesn't have words for it. So I think the speaker is more or less correct in her basic assumptions.

yeahhh i do agree what makes difference is the knowledge and the brain development of the surroundings

This is one of the best TED talks I have listened to, being able to speak more than one language- I can definitely relate to this, I was actually thinking about this before & she presented the facts, Thanks a lot. I think people would also relate to the fact that speaking different dialects of the same language can very much influence the way you think & behave. I feel there are more 'aggressive' dialects and 'kinder' dialects of the same language.

im learning japanese and it is definitely a different way of thinking. its really interesting how we process different information

I agree. Sadly so many of the more recent TED/TEDx talks I see are garbage pseudoscience garbage. The Elon Musk PR exercise recently was a disgrace. I'm an aerospace engineer and these are the sorts of talks that attracted me to watching a lot of TED/TEDx talks a few years back. Talks that inform and make people think, not PR for clowns.

That truly makes sense because I did experience it at least once

@Rabia Sani A A

@Ahlem Bnhm I appreciate it

100% true. I speak several languages and when you shift from one to another, your brain and your mind shift to another way of thinking. You start expressing in a complete different ways. I remember one time that I was in work g in Brazil. One of the local engineers wanted to practice his English with me, although we had been speaking in Portuguese since my arrival. As soon as I started speaking English to him, I saw the surprise in his face and he told me: You voice is completely different in English than in Portuguese which was very curious to me because I never noticed it. I have noticed though that Spanish language is a very descriptive language. You just don’t say a thing. You have to describe it. English is simpler in that way. It lacks the description of things but the pronunciation of words is more complex.

Do you sound native in both Portuguese and English?

I'm spaniard and I sense how my voice changes when I speak english

One of my favorite talk so far! I love The way she conveys her messages, how she speaks slowly but shaped. What an immersive speak!

About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil

My mother tongue is Persian, and I speak English fluently. I learned driving on the right side of the road in Iran. When I moved to South Africa, I had to drive on the left side of the road. No problem so far. When I had passengers, and we spoke in English in the car, all went well. When some of my friends switch to speaking in Persian in the car, I subconsciously moved to the right side of the road scaring everyone in the car and on the road! Then I moved to Australia, and the same thing happens every now and then!

Wow interesting!

@Aniela Reis This also happens to my sister! We are Brazilian and she's lived in the US for more than ten years. From time to time I can notice the English language interference in some things she says, she translates some words and expressions literally! It sounds funny but I totally understand!

Amazing! This woman should use your experience on her speech

@zelen plav I would avoid jumping to conclusions. These observations may suggest that the neural pathways (connections) that are responsible for encoding the skills are neither extensive nor deep enough. Simply put, the driver has not achieved mastery - strictly speaking - he has not achieved automaticity.

@Pite Janseke It is mostly a matter of choice. Your first language will not get rusty as long as you make an effort to maintain it.

Absolutely agree. I studied Japanese for 5 years and I was noticing interesting things happening to my mind. The way I was perceiving reality shifted. It smelled different, it was differently colored, different air, different taste, different assumptions and expectations. Japanese language is so "block-like" and the verb always comes in the end. It's very schematic, very logical, very square. It gave me more clarity in the way I was thinking and the way I was formulating my sentences. It's a pity we are loosing so many different languages. They ARE other universes. I wish there would be a way to save and preserve them. I feel the same about religions - so so many beautiful philosophies are pushed to the corner and lost.

@CASSANDRA DARWINIANA FATHER KNOWS BEST a) You argue against science by using a single anecdote, which is inherently non-scientific. b) It's not her central thesis. It's that language can influence mindsets, not provide absolutes. Ironically, you seem to using Google translate.

@Jehad-Ibrahim that's the best example of the Saphire-Wolf theory, which says language shapes your brain, perceptions and ideas. I was shocked when I saw that movie,

Feeling is more important than words....

Good morning. I'm Japanese and in Japan now. I'm continually studying English, and then I'm thinking opposite what you said now. I think that is a more constructive language in English than Japanese. When I think of a reason, I suppose that It's completely different in the word order between English and Japanese. The Japanese describe the behavior verb in the last position, but English is in the first position. This relation is too opposite. And I thought that the language differences might create a good national character difference for each other.

A person is a person is a a person. When you start noticing that a foreign language makes you into a different person, it is time to see a clinical psychiatrist.

Such a nice talk. Congrats to Lera on how she approached a so complex topic and made it easy for understanding. I would like to bring a reflection from myself to the table. I am Portuguese native speaker but I also speak English and a little bit of French and German. I could feel this difference on the way we think frequently based upon the context/culture in which we are trying to communicate with. I some times can only express a feeling or idea in Portuguese or English and many times I get misunderstood in German or French due to lack of "proficiency" which I say that the problem is not thinking in the proper way as that language requires. It is common to sound rude, invasive or completely misunderstood if we mix all these culture + languages rules to the equation but it also impact the message content and how easily people will get your message. That example of languages that can and can't count was a perfect example for this but even close related languages can differ so much. I can't imagine how I would do to communicate with that Australian Tribe. I am clueless about orientation without my GPS. HAHA

This is a very underrated comment haha

Yep, totally agree. I can also add that when you learn a new language, it’s like you develop a new part of your brain and personality with it.

Great speech. Love her composure and how she explained everything in simple yet great detail. "Why do I think the way I do?" what a thought-provoking question. I love it.

If one culture couldn’t discover algebra because of their language missing number words, I wonder what our language misses and what we have yet to discover due to that.

The egg or the chick?

I am amazed with this thought! Imagine how hard it is to say 20 in French but yet they are good at math related sciences.

Just a word of caution on how that kind of thinking can lead to all sorts of "racist" implications. It's one thing to say "X culture doesn't have algebra because their lifestyle doesn't require it". It's quite another to say "X culture doesn't have algebra because their language has shaped their brain in such a way that they are now unable to discover it". One of the early big inquiries following this idea of "linguistic determinism" was looking into how Chinese speakers handled counterfactuals. Because of the structure of the language, it was posited that they would have a harder time with counterfactuals than, say, English speakers. The first study did find some differences, but the methodology was a mess. Once proper methodology was used, no differences were found at all. Anyway, you can see the point though, right? Once you go down that route, it's just a matter of time before you start saying "X people can't feel Y emotion", "X people are limited in their intellectual endeavours because their language doesn't have a word for Y", etc. etc. There's a comment here of a person delighting in the fact that when she learned to speak Japanese, she found that she could "think more clearly". She fails to notice though that the implications is that a Japanese person would be justified in saying that people who speak her own native language are "less clear" thinkers than they are. So yeah, it's probably worth some caution when playing around with those ideas. I'm not saying those ideas aren't worth exploring, but they can easily slip into racist territory.

By “number words” you mean “numeral” in linguistics.

@刘瑞琪 Algebra was done in only Chinese characters at least more than 2000 years ago in China. Search for Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art.

Excellent and beautiful exposition on language diversity! Thank You Lera... It would be a great opportunity to listen to or even experience/attend such proficient presentation.

“It is no nation that we inhabit, but a language. Make no mistake; our native toungue is our true fatherland.” ― Emil Cioran

Or Motherland, depending on the gender your language assigns to home, country, earth etc :-)

that´s why conquerors always tried to replace the language of the conquered countries by their own language. It´s a way of annhilate them. Romans, Greeks, Spanish in America, many examples of that.

I don’t agree. Spanish is my native language, but I feel English suits best to me when I’m thinking.

@abed bbb eh, but not everyone is religious. However, everyone uses sum form of a language, verbal or no.

no people relate more to religion and ideology than for a language

Language, in my opinion, is a really strong phenomenon, and it is one of the key reasons why we humans evolved to be the way we are today in comparison to other species. It provided people with a sense of identification and trust in others because they now shared a common something. It all starts with developing a small group, then a community, then a society, and finally a nation. It's pretty amazing how a simple way of talking can have such a big impact on society.

Caramba, incrível o exemplo da descrição da cena do vaso quebrando e tbm a de como o gênero do substantivo muda a sua descrição! Realmente, ao falarmos uma segunda língua uma nova personalidade surge em nós, quase como uma nova alma.

You've gotta respect the amount of research that has gone into this speech🙏

I have followed this discussion in the comments, and that is really enjoyable to read how knowledge is everywhere, and how the video makes one of many purposes it has. I agree with those who say that the title is a bit tricky, however, the final thoughts give us an idea of the real purpose of the speech. Certainly, our mind is not changing the way we think, but the way we act regarding specific actions. Also, everyone knows that a language is not only a huge number of words, a language comes with its culture. Greetings.

@Hailey Miller Saying that language shapes our perspective or worldview is like saying that a ball is afraid of the dark because of the gravitational pull of Polaris, ignoring a zillion factors at play. Some players seem to be having a hard time admitting they are duffers.

@Harvest She is smart - I'll give her that - at making a cat's paw of other people. 5:51 'anumeric' societies (Caleb Everett 1977) 8:01 grammatical gender (Maria Sera 1994) spatial metaphors (L.Chun 1997) 2:33 cardinal directions (John Haviland 1998) 6:48 colour categorization (Jules Davidoff 1999) What exactly did she do to contribute to science apart from asking people from different backgrounds to arrange photo "line-ups" - an activity we used to do for fun as children at family get-togethers? The outcomes, however, were different. Most of the time we arranged pictures vertically or front to back perhaps because our school planners and timetables have a vertical layout but I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

This is linguistic relativism

😘

Linguistics is fascinating! Also, the way our brain learns to recognize nd articulate the sounds that mean something in our language, but "forgets" the sounds that don't, is very interesting and challenging when we struggle to learn a new language in adult age. Some distinctive sounds in Korean are seem as the same in my mother tongue and I can't distinguish them. Sigh.

Truly amazing. I love the way she delivers the facts. Great TED talk.

We're thankful for the given talk. We learnt the perspectives of a second language learner. Now it is really clear when English language learners describe or are in the process of saying a word or a whole sentence. Indeed, our first native language is basically . But the whole, English shapes how we think.

Awesome presentation, in this video we know what are the advantages to know a second language, also we can say that it can change our mind and our life.

I really envy the people who so easily and calmly articulate their thoughts

You don't know how many hours went into this. And what tools she used. The trend (fad) is to speak extemporarily, i.e., not read from a written speech or rely on memory of a written speech. I can tell the difference. Written is more concise, more correct, more informative, less ambiguous. I guess this to be because of proof reading, re-thinking, resulting in deeper thought. I appreciate that. I strive for it. That's why I don't like to speak freely, "shoot from the hip".

Me too as I can't communicate well

Weird thing that happened to me, I had a fast rap song phase. I stuttered and struggled to find the right word. So I learned to mimic these songs and moved to freestyle while driving just play a beat and pick 3 random words. My theory is that I had practiced solely articulation and mouth coordination, and eventually moved to working in my word (recall? Idk) and now articulating my thoughts is much easier. I’ve started to read a lot more and improving my vocabulary with this other practice has made a huge difference in my lofe

I can. But I envy people that can calculate fast

Practise makes perfect, I mean...nearly perfect

What an absolute gem of a video. I have learned a couple of extra languages through the years, and it's always amazed me how language can make me see something differently.

I've been learning Spanish in school for a few years now, so I've thought about how language works in different cultures, which is super fascinating to me

Very interesting and enlightening. My first experience with a change in how direction is considered was in 2008 in Beijing when the taxi drivers always asked me if I wanted to go to my destination by turning East or West... took me weeks to be able to answer correctly!

I think these findings have implications for language learning and assessment. So many students have to take English tests (TOEFL, IELTS) to get better opportunities in life and so many get lower scores not because they are difficult to understand when they speak English but because they don't sound 'natural enough'. Such a great point about the majority of studies conducted in English. We're losing so many discoveries and opportunities.

In China there are many universities where the medium of teaching of all subjects is English.

@Arid Sohan natural being the way of speaking that a native speaker of that language would have. A native English speaker would sound weird speaking Hindi for the first time and vice versa. You can have objectively good pronunciation and still not be an efficient user of the language.

The examples given in this brilliant talk really made me think about how we actively language to shape our perception of our world. It's an obvious observation - of course, linguistic diversity helps make sense of what we experience... But concepts like "time", "geography" or even our individual roles in what happens around us (like "accidentally breaking the vase") are things I would have wrongly assumed to be universal. The genderised nouns used in most languages is something that native English speakers often find it hard to grasp. It's interesting to witness the trend to degender certain nouns or professional titles (actor, lawyer, teacher...) which is a good way to remove unconscious gender stereotypes we learn from birth. Here in the UK, the term WPC was a common term when I grew up in the eighties to describe a Woman Police Constable. That sent out the message to children at an early age that a career in law enforcement was not open to those who are not male. Finally, gender is a both a construct and a broad spectrum, so our languages need to evolve to reflect this concept.

So proud to have come from 3 completely different cultures (meaning I speak several languages)! So yes, languages do shape our souls! 😆 oh, and Russian is one of my native languages! 😊

A simply wonderful and crystal clear exposé. Beautiful stuff, thank you!

About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil

A very entertaining and educational presentation, thanks so much for posting this kind of content

The moment you start to learn a foreign language you learn at the same time a different mentality! 🌹

Thanks a lot for this video, I found new examples and new perspectives on the statement "we are how we think and speak". And when you listen to a person who speaks another language dramatically different from yours, you can see the differences in culture, sometimes misundersandings, just only because you think differently. Perfect! This is one of my favourite things to think about and observe. I also can't disagree that the more languages you speak, the wider your mind is (or the bigger your soul is). But I have never thought about future: a bit terrifying prospect to realize that some of the languages will die, or some of them will transform influenced by another more popular language.

Thanks for explaining Every language has its own universe Every language is unique No big or small

Really interesting video to know what are the advantages to know a second language, how it can change your mind and your life if you learn it, how useful is it and the best way you can learn and practice it.

This helped me understand a little bit more clearly things that I had intuited from comparing different languages I speak. Super interesting

WOw, this is amazing! as a dual language person, it never occurred to me. I did notice the difference but was not aware of it being this intricate!

Excelente apresentação!

Amazed by the different languages we speak and how we use them to express complex thoughts. Each individual that speaks a different language will pay attention to different things and greatly shape the way we think.

I absolutely loved her speech. So professionaly, accurately, meaningfully, interestingly and sweetly constructed and delivered. Simply brilliant!

@Hugh Moore ?

Her argument is largely unsubstantiated, as most modern linguists will tell you. Read John McWhorter's book on the topic.

@Carina Correa @Hugh Moore As, I can read you like a Book!

Carina Mantovani I liked your comment end

Nice

I am Russian and I perceive "siniy" (dark blue) and "goluboy" (light blue) as shades of the same color. This proves that it doesn't just depend on language, but also on personality.

what a incredible experience. She opens up another dimensions of Language we communicate ,I have to study more about it.

Her language combines preciseness of mind and urge of soul having more pricision around. Love listening to such a voice.

Очень классное выступление 👍

This is very interesting. As someone who speaks a few languages I've become aware of my personality differences every time I switch, it's incredibly amusing really. Great talk!

Brilliant and riveting.. Language, together with intonation and emphasis, paints the landscape truly.

same as me, but speaking hindi, urdu and english i'm calm/formal etc. and more expressive when speaking punjabi. Only just an A2 in french, so can't say much about that.

@Ruonan Zhao For Cantonese, we say "keúih" for the third person singular. It can be written in Written Cantonese as 佢, but we write in Standard Chinese as 他. And we say "keúih-deih" (佢哋) for the third person plural. We use 哋 (deih) to pluralize the pronoun: 我哋 (we), 你哋 (you [plural]). For Taishanese (台山話), the third person plural is just pronounced "kie̖k" (transliterated as 𠳞).

Hi.Can we chatting? I want improve my english?😊

One of the best TED videos I have ever watched. Full of information and ideas.

Thank you! Very useful for my classes!

Thank you Ms. Lera! i really loved this talk. it has just come to me or, it has been in my mind subconsciously all these years that i've been living..that my soul is fascinated about learning about languages. Can anyone suggest a book/podcast/anything that i could get started with to learn about linguistics..thank you so much

This is very interesting! We have differents languages in my region. I lost my mother tongue which is a local regional language . When I came in Europe, we have to obliged to speak only the local language. Spoken our mother tongue has been forbidden. It's damage. Now, I think I have some difficulties to say my toughts

Если всё в жизни имеет смысл, то эта лекция вдохновила меня ещё больше любить и изучать свой язык . А так же уважать другие языки... 🙌

Согласен, очень глубокие мысли в этой лекции

This is that thing that blows your mind in linguistics 101, and then that you usually get past just a few months later. Far more striking is how similar our thought processes are. You'd expect a LOT more diversity of cognitive processes given just how diverse languages, and yet the differences we observe are minute, largely irrelevant in the larger scale of things.

You are absolutely correct. I speak several European languages and Japanese. I do not perceive with world differently in any significant way, certain not in a way that approaches a world view determined by language. This talk is grossly misleading. See McWhorter's book Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language. Sad to see so many people duped by this charming and intelligent scholar.

Brilliant and clear talk. I learn a lot. Thanks.

I’ve probably seen about 200x TED talks and this one is Top 5. Well done.

We all, however, do speak a common language: the language that happens in our minds BEFORE we think a thought, which then becomes a word, which then becomes a language, which then becomes actions, which become the veil with which we cover the world. In many ways language separates us as much as it unites us.

Such an incredibly concise and impactful talk.

Language defined us and limited us from the very beginning with our limited knowledge and natural born fears. Humanity needs to reevaluate how much it has shaped who we are and prevented us from developing as a species

it really does. When you speak more than one language, you kinda mix different cultures and your mentality turns a bit more flexible, which I guess is really great.

I’m an interpreter (and multilingual anyway) and the content from this video blew my mind and made my day. You speak well and I want to research this topic more. Thank you 😊

Same here...m gonna download this video

You can look up for sapir's linguistic relativy to get a deep approach... cheers

Heey can you share to us what research have you done from this topic!

Hello I want to be a interpreter, please help me

absolutely loved this clip. mastering multiple languages is certainly one sure way of breaking silos

This is soooo good! Wow does the language we speak shape the way we think! That's huge!!

Very nice presentation. I speak 3 languages fluently, and now I know why I am the way I think ... Thank you.

Me encantó! Muchas gracias! Me hizo pensar en la pelicula "Arrival" (Netflix) y tambien en la palabra "finger" que muchas veces traducimos al español como "dedo" sin tener en cuenta que sólo tenemos 8 "fingers" y a la vez tenemos 20 "dedos". Para terminar, pienso en el lenguaje inclusivo... Thanks so much! FrANCISCO, (eNGLISH TEACHER FROM aRGENTINA)

I am a native Japanese speaker, I truly agree with this idea!! When I think in English, I feel more reasonable and more computational. And in the case of French, more accurate and more abstract than them. I think it is very difficult to guarantee the equality of all language speakers at the same time as preserving the language. English has gained status as a global language as an established fact. The use of my poor english is one example.

When I think in English, I feel more chill and take it easy. But things changes when I learn Japanese. It changes me suddenly from "take it easy" to "more serious and discipline" personality. 😂 Both are not my mother tongue.

@Lucipherous de Illuminati that's not true at all. My mother tongue is Portuguese and I'm fluent in English so I'm constantly thinking and dreaming in English. The ability to think or dream in another language is related with how advanced your speaking/listening skills are in that language :)

@User, basically that yes , you are right, It was during the British colonization inside the colonies, but there were French colonization and Spanish colonization too, besides there were huge Osman Empire and China's population was always huge and Russia used russian to communicate with all nations withing it. So English wasn't that important. British Empire wasn't of more importance than abouthmentioned countries, it's just more popular now.

@Leozack Destron i think even before the US ascension English was a important language due to the vastness and importance of the British Empire

Mc Panik I (Native English speaker) learned German at age 17 by spending a year of homestay there. Now I can think in either English or German (depending on context), and even when I’m speaking English, certain terms and phrases in German spring to mind before their English equivalents—they seem more emphatic or have a certain nuance that the English lacks. E.g. “konsequent” or “Ach, du liebe Schiße!” 😂 Similarly, a few phrases in French I find more useful than the English, for example the French “selon” (Spanish según) is more concise than the English “according to.” And the words that have crept into the English language, like “ennui” and “Zeitgeist,” have no native English cognates. This is how languages become enriched—finding a more precise expression of an idea in another language. My mother, who spoke Japanese, English, and Portuguese, used the term “encostada” from the Portuguese to refer to a door that was not quite closed in its jamb—not open enough to be ajar, but not completely closed, either. It’s a specific way of welcoming expected guests while not advertising to burglars to come in.

I've been always contemplating the communication.. Amazing the way that we can build thoughts and send them for another ones

I like how she speaks so easily and I have small thought that language shapes the thoughts and some language modifies the expression, meaning, and pronunciation. and with the language, we speak that it has the big impact and depends on who we talk to

This one without the question, the best video I have ever watched on youtube! And the examples were amazing! We really say I broke my arm in English whereas in Turkish we say my arm got broken even though we caused the accident. WOW!

I think this phrase " To have a second language is to have a different soul"!! is interesting. I love learning English because It is an special language. When I speak English I transform in other person.

I have always had a difficult time thinking this way and always thinking the other way around. It seems to me that the way we think, shapes our language. Thinking precedes speaking. Best regards

Wonderful talk! And what about the perceptual realm beyond or pre-language in the realm of meditation or music where the duality of 'mind and body' are realized as one? The problem existing between thought and nature. Studying the landscape of pre-symbol? I wish that I could discuss this as musician who traverses this type of world with the speaker.

I speak four languages and I have always been thankful for learning more than one. I realized that there are plenty of jokes and humor that just can't be translated to another language without losing its funny element. I always wonder how much laughter I would have missed If I hadn't learned the other languages.

How calm this lady is!! I really envy her. She's so thoughtful and keep others interested through her tone.

1:44 Does the language we speak shapes the way we think? 2:33 Aboriginal community from Australia 4:00 Example of location, point southeast 8:00 German and Spanish 13:38 final thought

Wow thanks, I’m writing a presentation on this using info fromt this vid. This is nice :)

Gracias. :)

@Saul Espinoza 🙏🙏🙏🙏

@Nuredin sure!, just type the time where u want the reminder and its comment next to it. Easy peasy 👌😎

Amazing technical skill. Can u share how do you do that? Thank you!

Great insight. Many thank. Language is a piece of art how it evolves. It is fascinating that so many languages and even more dialects exists. A gift of life to communicate and see culture adapt over time.

in a few cases this might be true. if the meaning of a word changes over time in very specific cases. but actually humans form language and is a very useful tool. it enhances thinking which feeds back into enhancing the language. but what obviously comes first is the language of your mind and your thoughts and from that is language derived not the other way around. make no mistake, language is cultural after all. language grows on humans but cant exist without humans and you can have distinct thoughts without speaking any language at all. Concluding that language never would have been invented, if there never was another human. Point is language is shaped by none other than us or nature itself. That definitions change over time or its true appropriate use can only determined retrospectively is more of a historical than a linguistic or philosophical feature.

Finally, someone in this comment section disagrees with that lady

One day I heard a word in Bunun language (or buan, which is one of the indigenous tribe here in Taiwan) I forgot what the word is, but it means "a hunter waiting quietly in the night of the forest" and all of that picture in a single word, I thought that's somewhat beautiful and needs to be treasured.

Wow...a fantastic and interesting podcast, thank you!

It´s even more clear if you think about how the verb "to be" is divided in two verbs in languages like Spanish and Portuguese: one verb based on essence ("ser") and one based on status ("estar"). They change totally the sense of what you're saying, but in English they are just the same so you aren't able to express your idea totally. I think that's so interesting!

@Chetri Saw with this I am definitely not saying that language precedes context or concepts in the effect on personal perception of the world, my examples are here to provide food for thought is all 😊

@Chetri Saw ok I have more: Croatian: vjerovati = English: trust / believe (in God for example) (I had a very difficult time explaining the difference to my parents, for them it is the same thing) "Thank you" - "You're welcome" (I definitely use this phrase more frequently than native speakers, not because I don't know of other ways to reply, it just that you're welcome resonates with my feelings well - like, you're always welcome to come ask for help. For my parents, it still doesn't make sense to say this - welcome for them is exclusively for places, because of literal Croatian translation) (we usually say no worries or no problem as a reply)

@Chetri Saw also one more: Croatian: majka, otac = mother, father Croatian: maćeha, očuh = stepmother, stepfather (in Croatian completely different words, with no equal stem) When I spoke Croatian only and exclusively (10 years), I didn't perceive stepmothers and stepfathers as relatives and as close to the children as when I started to learn English. Even today when I read articles about (good or bad) stepparents in Croatian and in English, the effect is still slightly different.

@Chetri Saw Hello :) at the moment I cannot think of better examples to explain how the languages I speak (2 fluent, 2 basic) shaped my vision of the world, but I'll give it a go anyways: Croatian: prst = English: finger / toe (I hadn't perceived them as (extremely) different body parts before I learned English) Same with: Croatian: zglob = English: joint, wrist, ankle Croatian: kosa (hair on your head) / dlake (hair on your body) = English: hair (I have always perceived these as two completely different things) Croatian: posuditi = English: lend, borrow = Japanese: kasu, kariru = German: verleihen, ausleihen (for my mind it was the same action, it took time to start perceiving it as two different ones) Croatian: jastuk = English: pillow / cushion (my perception was: it's the same thing, it's just that one is smaller than the other one, but with learning English came a completely new perception of these 2 items) Croatian: sat = English: clock / watch (I still perceive them as the same thing, though 🤣) Croatian: sat = English: o'clock / hour = German: Uhr / Stunde (It is 3 o'clock - in Croatian this sentence for me always had a notion of how much time has passed, while in English it doesn't because there is a distinction between o'clock and hour) My son is trilingual and I have found myself explaining so many things to my monolingual (Croatian) parents about the differences between languages and ensuing perception of the world, I wish I wrote them all down... I've also heard there are 7 words to call love in Arabic - which means their perception of love is different. Etc etc

@Ciprian Nemet Personally I wouldn't use the term 'meaning' to describe the verbs 'ser' and 'estar' because it is confusing and even misleading. I have revised my previous comment about aspectual verbs accordingly.

I love this talk - I rarely learn this much in 15min !

wonderful lecture!

It seems that learning languages activates some additional brain structures. I know two languages besides my native. And in both cases, I felt that my consciousness seemed to reach a new level

Спасибо Лера, очень интересно.

This is such an amazing talk.catchy, easy to understand yet very well researched. i've watched it a couple of times and told my friends about it.

Can you make me understand sapair worhf hypothesis…

About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil

Very informative video. Since there is no universal language, can we say that, what we interpret as our ideas are illusions.

languages ​​are important to transmit knowledge and all their differences show us how ingenious the human mind is that adapts to our needs.

This is a subject I have been actively researching since 2001 and have to agree that the genius mechanism along with multidimensional thought is activated upon realisation of being bi-lingual. I speak 4 languages, English was my 3rd and French not until recently. Our daughter (3) displays unusual thought processes and language not to mention creativity thats just beyond her years. Even doctors have noticed it. She is growing up with her mothers native tongue of French (she also speaks Engish, Spanish and Italian) and my native Dutch, English and German. Our daughter often teaches us just like her maternal school teacher as this is what she wants to do when she grows up. With our daughter we also use a combination of Montessori, Steiner, Berlitz and my own breakthrough curriculum (the LEAD ME program) which has seen well over 800,000 children through it on 4 continents in 11 years. It works and works exceedingly well no matter the age or nationality. Our daughter lives her days as an individual of significant influence for she has been liberated to life and thus thirves no matter what environment she is in, she has also been liberated from fears, anxieties and worldly opinions which of course is what we all want for our kids. If we can help to liberate your kids or parents let us know, we're more than happy to guide you in the right direction. David Lead Me Services. leadmeprogram @ teachers . org

Thank you for this awesome video! Had a lot of takeaways! Will share this in my English Learners Here FB Page. Thanks, again!

One of my favorite TEDtalks - interesting and very applicable topic, articulate and engaging speaker, balanced humor. Thank you, Lera!

Her way of explaining is just amazing.

wow that really is food for thought. perhaps this is why i love languages so much. have been learning mandarin for over a year now and and struggling. whereas German came fairly easily and understanding french and dutch the same. I can have a simple conversation in Indonesian but gave up on thai

I thought of this same concept of how my dog understood commands when he was spoken to, when I was a small child, it only dawned on me that this may have had a role in domestication about a decade ago… it’s an interesting thought.

This hits me to the core every time I listen to this. THANK YOU.

This is so damn interesting, love learning languages!

Me too. Language is a very interesting subject

I know right

@Hana honda Hungarian (my native lanuage), English, Japanese and Sign language :)

Aria yes but it would also be less beautiful.

@Aria Thats like trying to make everyone the same.. when everybody is born differently and unique in our own special way.

Wao.... wao, wao, wao, wao. The subject, the focus and the bright star enlightening existence. Thanks TED talks for bringing us Lera Boroditsky.

When I speak French especially in Paris I don’t mind someone nodding halfway in to my sentence just after I said the noun and verb, but when I started learning Japanese… it changed everything. Not only I became more patient while listening, but also as a speaker, because you don’t get the verb till the last word in Japanese.

I read what you write but delight in watching you on YouTube, especially when you say that 'scientists' say to you that your ideas make things "fall apart.' That really means that they cannot continue to move from obviously mistaken assumptions to apply simplistic algorithms. You, however, realise that things become more 'wonderful. Press on.

Loved the quote of Carlomagno. (The laguage I learned over time) Me encantó la cita de Carlomagno. (Mi lengua madre) About the article genders, fun fact about spanish english and german is that in spanish we have male and female articles, in english theres isn't a gender for subjects and in german both ideas are present. They have male, female and no gender articles. Beautiful thing the language is (yoda style)

I love this talk. As a speech therapist and as a learner of other languages, I revel in the bazillion aspects of language. I worked with hearing impaired kids in an area with vary little parental involvement. It was not unusual to sadly have deaf kids start school at 3 or 4 or 5 with absolutely no language...and because of their situations, you had to accept that they would never catch up. At the same time, I worked with a 4-year-old who had started on his own reading a 4th or 5th grade level book about animals. Then I have aging parent with dementia, so I see the loss of language and cognition. (Although my mom asked to have speech therapy, and is making great progress hanging on to a retrieving lost skills. Yeah, Mom!) Thanks for researching and sharing your research on a subject that is so close to my heart.

That is really amazing actually because my native language is Urdu, which has masculine and feminine words, and for me they sound very natural but let's say an English native person tries to learn Urdu, they would sound very unnatural and difficult.

Great. Each language has its own unique world. Languages has a power that can change each of our world.

It's a luck for me to learn more than two kinds of languages. It helps me to use different sides to think about the world.

This is very interesting. Speaking multiple languages can be useful for us to think in other ways. Conversely, a language we use might limit our thinking.

People usually ask me if I dream in other languages, it happens often. The vocabulary in one language helps increase in another.

Thanks. I thought that I was losing my English understanding but not, I could understand you, almost everything. You have a beautiful pronunciation. I loved it.