Fellow multilingual people, how strongly do you:

1) “think” in a certain language
2) use a different thinking language
3) feel that you have different thoughts based on the language you think in
4) how related is the language you speak to the way you think ?

Also people who are in the field (cognitive neuroscience? Linguistics?), what’s some good current material on the topic?

I know it’s a lot of weird questions that are probably impossible to answer.

FWIW I can’t really pinpoint if I think in a certain language. I do think my personality changes a bit or rather, I feel like my personality changes (for example the cliche of the rude French person with a proclivity for sexualized language). Certain things are easier to express in a certain language and thus influence the recursive thinking-speaking/writing loop (ever tried to explain something technical in French, or do Deleuze style poetic rambling in English?), but it feels like an externality.

#neuroscience #linguistics #language

This is a really cool visualization and analysis of text written across NYC, as visible from the street.
https://pudding.cool/2025/07/street-view/
#nyc #streets #language

This is a really cool visualization and analysis of text written across NYC, as visible from the street.
https://pudding.cool/2025/07/street-view/
#nyc #streets #language

"Exculpate" is a word I really need to remember more in English. Sometimes I want the sense of "disculparse" and "unguilt" doesn't exist in English.

I was talking about the great contrast between the hooded figures singing "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" and Frollo saying "it's not my fault" in "Hellfire".

They say "mea culpa" while he tries to deny his culpability.

#Disney#DisneyVillain#HunchbackOfNotreDame #language

Having discussed "fjärd", here's another landscape feature that's super common around Stockholm but apparently nowhere in the #English-speaking world: "häll". It's an almost horizontal, smooth, slightly convex expanse of gneiss or granite bedrock. It's what's left of a taller outcrop after the inland ice has ground it down. Maybe there's a #Scots word for it?

#language #geology

Having discussed "fjärd", here's another landscape feature that's super common around Stockholm but apparently nowhere in the #English-speaking world: "häll". It's an almost horizontal, smooth, slightly convex expanse of gneiss or granite bedrock. It's what's left of a taller outcrop after the inland ice has ground it down. Maybe there's a #Scots word for it?

#language #geology

I’m looking to learn #Japanese, and I tried Duolingo like a year ago and it didn’t really click for me so if anyone has recommendations for a good app/site/resource for learning conversational Japanese I’d love to hear about them!

(I’ve seen around the internet that the best place is to learn from a native speaker in person, but unfortunately I’m not able to do in person stuff right now. Maybe someday I’ll be able to take the course at my local community college).

#Language

I’m looking to learn #Japanese, and I tried Duolingo like a year ago and it didn’t really click for me so if anyone has recommendations for a good app/site/resource for learning conversational Japanese I’d love to hear about them!

(I’ve seen around the internet that the best place is to learn from a native speaker in person, but unfortunately I’m not able to do in person stuff right now. Maybe someday I’ll be able to take the course at my local community college).

#Language

Japan's kids have summer projects to do. From book reports to research projects, here’s how parents can help — with a grammar lesson to boot. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/07/24/language/japanese-children-screens-summer/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #language #nihongo #vocabulary #summer #parenting #children

Fun article about Australian English. @slevelt should find this informative. :)

'For a start, there are the many varieties of the word “mate”, ranging from the convivial to the downright threatening. There’s the ALP “mate”, for example, which has several repeats of the letter ‘a’, as in “maaaaaate”. It means you are about to lose preselection or be dumped from the Prime Ministership. There’s the terse “excuse me, mate” when someone’s blocking the entrance to a building, and the sunny “thanks, mate” when they finally make way. Meanwhile, “mate”, when used by a mechanic, means: “I’ve judged that you are the sort of chap who knows nothing about motor vehicles and so have elected to charge you double.”'

#language#Australiahttps://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/do-australians-have-the-best-possible-version-of-english-20250714-p5met7.html

Fun article about Australian English. @slevelt should find this informative. :)

'For a start, there are the many varieties of the word “mate”, ranging from the convivial to the downright threatening. There’s the ALP “mate”, for example, which has several repeats of the letter ‘a’, as in “maaaaaate”. It means you are about to lose preselection or be dumped from the Prime Ministership. There’s the terse “excuse me, mate” when someone’s blocking the entrance to a building, and the sunny “thanks, mate” when they finally make way. Meanwhile, “mate”, when used by a mechanic, means: “I’ve judged that you are the sort of chap who knows nothing about motor vehicles and so have elected to charge you double.”'

#language#Australiahttps://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/do-australians-have-the-best-possible-version-of-english-20250714-p5met7.html

Still haven’t made summer plans? This week’s Bilingual piece rounds up the major festivals happening across Japan — and teaches you a handy grammar point to practice when you go. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/07/18/language/japanese-summer-festival-listing/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #language #nihongo #vocabulary #grammar #jlptn2

July 17 is World Emoji Day! But is it only going to be Gen Xers and Millennials that celebrate it? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/07/11/language/emoji-japanese-gen-z-texts/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #language #nihongo #emoji #vocabulary #jlptn3 #jlptn1 #grammar

YAY! Someone translated my Architectural Hostility of Doorknobs post to another language! Check out the thread at https://neopaquita.es/@microblogc/114828785191022658#Blog#Blogging#Blogs#IndieWeb#Language#Translation

YAY! Someone translated my Architectural Hostility of Doorknobs post to another language! Check out the thread at https://neopaquita.es/@microblogc/114828785191022658#Blog#Blogging#Blogs#IndieWeb#Language#Translation

Whether on approves or disapproves of swearing, curse words are everywhere, and now more than ever. New research reveals the most common vulgarity, and which countries curse the most. And I ask a linguist: Why are we hearing and seeing more swearing now, online and even among politicians on camera, as happened recently when the US president dropped an F-bomb on TV?

https://medium.com/wise-well/the-art-and-science-of-swearing-5fadb0b6c979

#culture #society #language

This is small, but feels right.

I’ve been trying to use “enslaved” instead of “slave.” For example “enslaved people in America” or “enslaved labor.” I noticed a number of Black folks making this subtle change so I followed their cue.

I believe it matters because “slave” names someone by definition, whereby “enslaved” names their situation.

Would you rather be a slave or a person who was enslaved?

(I’m writing a chapter in my book about this.)

#Language#Oppression#EnslavedLabor#Enslaved

This is small, but feels right.

I’ve been trying to use “enslaved” instead of “slave.” For example “enslaved people in America” or “enslaved labor.” I noticed a number of Black folks making this subtle change so I followed their cue.

I believe it matters because “slave” names someone by definition, whereby “enslaved” names their situation.

Would you rather be a slave or a person who was enslaved?

(I’m writing a chapter in my book about this.)

#Language#Oppression#EnslavedLabor#Enslaved