Speaking a second language makes you see the world differently

Bilingual speakers have two minds in one body, new research has revealed. Speaking two languages literally changes the way we see the world, and bilingual speakers think differently to those who only use their native tongue. The new research by Panos Athanasopoulos, Professor of Linguistics and English language at Lancaster University, has found that bilinguals think and behave like two different people, depending on the language context they are operating in. Bilingual speakers can also switch flexibly between the two different mental states, and this gives them an advantage over people who only speak one language, the research has shown. Professor Athanasopoulos said: "Our research looked at people who can speak both English and German, and showed that bilinguals think and behave like two different people, depending on the language they are using. "We found that speaking different languages affected people's memory of events, and impacted on the way they would carry out simple tasks. "Our findings show that if you asked someone a question in English, and then repeated the same question in German, it's very likely they would give completely different answers.