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Languages also differ in how they describe events. Take an event like an accident. In English,/it’s fine to say,/“She broke the vase.” In Spanish,/you wouldn’t say that someone did it;/rather, you’d say,/“The vase broke,”/or “The vase broke itself.”
Again,/this has consequences. English speakers will remember who did it,/because English requires you to specify the actor. In contrast,/Spanish speakers/might be less likely to remember who did it,/because there’s no such requirement.
So far,/I’ve given you a few examples/of how language can shape the way we think,/and how it does so in a variety of ways.
Now,/the beauty of linguistic diversity/is that it reveals to us/just how ingenious and flexible the human mind is. We have invented not one cognitive universe,/but 7,000/—there are 7,000 languages in the world. The tragic thing/is that we’re losing so much of this linguistic diversity. By some estimates,/half of the world’s languages/will be gone in the next hundred years.
I want to leave you with a final thought. I’ve told you/about how speakers of different languages think differently,/and how the language that you speak/shapes the way you think. This gives you the opportunity to ask,/“Why do I think the way I do?” “How could I think differently?” “What thoughts do I wish to create?”
Thank you very much.
Languages also differ in how they describe events. Take an event like an accident. In English,/it’s fine to say,/“She broke the vase.” In Spanish,/you wouldn’t say that someone did it;/rather, you’d say,/“The vase broke,”/or “The vase broke itself.”
Again,/this has consequences. English speakers will remember who did it,/because English requires you to specify the actor. In contrast,/Spanish speakers/might be less likely to remember who did it,/because there’s no such requirement.
So far,/I’ve given you a few examples/of how language can shape the way we think,/and how it does so in a variety of ways.
Now,/the beauty of linguistic diversity/is that it reveals to us/just how ingenious and flexible the human mind is. We have invented not one cognitive universe,/but 7,000/—there are 7,000 languages in the world. The tragic thing/is that we’re losing so much of this linguistic diversity. By some estimates,/half of the world’s languages/will be gone in the next hundred years.
I want to leave you with a final thought. I’ve told you/about how speakers of different languages think differently,/and how the language that you speak/shapes the way you think. This gives you the opportunity to ask,/“Why do I think the way I do?” “How could I think differently?” “What thoughts do I wish to create?”
Thank you very much.