Tags
culture bilingualism

Wonderful language-affirming article on the Canadian CBC News web site about the identity shifts of people living in two cultures. According to researcher David Luna at Baruch College at the City University of New York "Language is one of the most powerful cues to activate a culturally specific way of doing things, thereby activating a different identity." Drawing on the experience of people living in two cultures, the article suggests that speaking a second or third language gives the speaker more room to express other sides of their personality than would be the case if they were just restricted to their first language.