Blog 4- Ways your language affects how you think

http://www.cracked.com/article_20744_5-surprising-ways-your-language-affects-how-you-think.html

This article talks about a question that we discussed in the first few weeks of class. Does the language you speak affect the way you think and perceive the world? According to this article, the answer is yes.

The first point it makes is interesting and one that I have never given much thought. It claims that societies who speak languages that are gendered(having masculine or feminine definite articles) tend to be a bit more sexist. Through a study, they found in countries with a gendered language, female participation in the work force drops by about 12 percent.

Another interesting point they make is that thinking in a foreign language actually aids you in making better decisions. The reason being that when you translate your thoughts into another language, you are forcing your brain to make strict analytical decisions rather than letting emotions take over.

It also states that your views change with the language you choose to voice them in. It says you are able to put yourself in someone else's cultural shoes just by speaking their language. Maybe some of you fluent bilingual speakers will have some input on this that would help me to better understand this idea because I feel the study results they stated in the article weren't very conclusive although I do find the hypothesis intriguing.

Anyway, I think the article was well-written and it brought up some thought-provoking ideas that I would like to look into further.