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Writer's pictureFederica Lupis

Does your personality change when you speak a foreign language?

Updated: Jul 29, 2023

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Personality change

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash



Language trainer, interpreter and translator.


My last trip before the pandemic was to Cuba. I always dreamed of travelling there, and as I entered Havana in one of those vintage cars you see in the movies, I was amazed by the reality I saw around me. It wasn’t all roses, but I could feel the magic of history coming back to life.


When Ash and I started a city tour a few hours later, I got the chance to speak Spanish to our guide, Ernesto. I was so happy to be in Cuba and to be able to speak a foreign language that I didn’t mind going back and forth between English and Spanish to make sure my partner was involved.


By lunchtime, I couldn’t wait to take a break from translating, but halfway through the meal, a French couple started making conversation. I couldn’t help myself and started speaking French with Gabrielle while Ash spoke English with Thomas.



That night, when we got to the hotel, Ash asked me: “What was that about? Today at the restaurant?”

I thought I probably went too far. I should have spoken English, at least at lunch:

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Sorry? What for?” Ash said, confused.

“About speaking French at lunch. I only thought of myself.”

Ash laughed: “No, no, no. It’s not about that. I had already noticed that when you speak Spanish and Italian, your personality changes, but today when you spoke French, you were like a different person. You went from Anna Faris to Nicole Kidman in the blink of an eye.”


I was confused. Ash had just compared me to the funny actress from Scary Movie and then to the sophisticated actress from Eyes Wide Shut: “What do you mean?” I smiled.


“When you speak Italian and Spanish, you’re more open, I would even say euphoric. When you speak French, you become calm and collected as if you were walking the red carpet”.


That night we laughed a lot. Ash asked me to repeat the same sentence in different languages, and then he tried to show me what he meant by imitating me. It was a lot of fun!



Until then, I wasn’t aware that speaking a foreign language could affect our personality. I’ve done some research, and it looks like it’s not as rare as I thought.


Would you like to find out if your personality changes too? Read on!



1. Ask yourself


Think about when you speak your first language. What adjectives describe you best? Are you introverted? Charismatic? Diplomatic?


Now think about when you speak a foreign language. Would you still choose the same words?


I bet you’ve found that at least one of your personality traits changes! And you’re not alone!


According to research, the way we perceive the culture associated with a given language can affect our behaviour.


For example, I think Spanish-speaking countries are the place for partying (fiesta!), which may have something to do with me looking more excited when I speak Spanish.


What do you think about the country where your foreign language is spoken? Your opinion definitely has an impact on the way you behave while speaking a foreign language.



2. Do an experiment


For the purpose of this experiment, you’ll need a movie/TV show that you have seen in the past whose audio is available in your language and the language that you’re learning.


First, play a scene where there is a main character in your language, then re-play the same scene in the foreign language.


Does the main character’s personality seem the same to you?


If you feel that something is different, this is a good indication of how you perceive your culture compared to the culture of the foreign language, which may be why when you speak the foreign language, you act differently.


This happened to me when I watched Money Heist in Spanish and then re-watched it in English with Ash. Halfway through the first episode, I realized that the protagonists looked different just because they spoke another language.


It may seem nonsense, but you’ll understand what I mean once you try it.


3. Rock the party!


My last point is for those who believe I simply suffer (or benefit ^_^) from a Split personality.


Perhaps, the personality of someone who speaks a foreign language never changes. It is possible that we use a foreign language to let ourselves go and own those personality traits we’ve always wanted to have.


If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be fun to try it? Speaking a foreign language could be as good as having a glass of wine and rocking the party!


~ ~ ~

To sum up:

· The way we perceive the culture associated with a particular language can affect our behaviour

· You can use a movie to discover how you perceive your culture in relation to the culture of the foreign language

· Speaking a foreign language can be as fun as having a glass of wine!


Thanks for reading!

I’ll catch you all next month.


If you enjoyed my article, you can discover my tried and tested language learning strategies in my books:


How to learn a language fast

How to learn a language fast

and here are this month's book offers:


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