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Vital words
you would handle – how you would manage or deal with a situation if you were using your native language
yet I am stuck – the feeling of being unable to move forward or express yourself fluently in English
I am stiff – not being relaxed or natural; feeling formal and ‘wooden’ in your communication
even though – used to show a contrast (e.g., feeling stiff despite usually being a relaxed person)
soul suffers – the deep frustration felt when your true personality cannot ‘breathe’ or come out through English
identity crisis – feeling confused or limited because the ‘English you’ doesn’t match who you really are
intentionally develop – to carefully and consciously build your new persona on purpose, not by accident
(to) be perceived as agreeable – to be seen by others as friendly, pleasant, and easy to get along with
a loss of self – the scary feeling that you are losing your ‚true‘ personality when you can’t express it in a new language
multilingual people – individuals who can speak and use several different languages
(to) be tied to – to be strongly connected or linked to something (like your native language being linked to your emotions)
(to) feel rational – to feel like you are thinking clearly based on logic rather than just feelings
(to) feel cool-headed – to stay calm and sensible, even in stressful speaking situations
(to) feel bold – to feel brave, confident, and willing to take risks while speaking
(to) be literally one step removed from – to have a small distance or ‘buffer’ between yourself and your raw emotions
raw emotional weight – the direct, heavy, and powerful feelings we associate with our first language
(to) develop an identity – to create a ‘version’ of yourself that has its own personality and way of existing in English
Do you know that feeling when you know you would handle the situation much better in Czech? You would have so much to say and so many jokes to throw in, yet you’re stuck in English. You have no words to describe things, no fluency to maintain momentum and none of the energy you would have had. Ugh! It’s so frustrating, isn’t it? Suddenly, you realise that you’re stiff in English, even though that’s just not you.
Have you ever heard the saying: ‚To have another language is to possess a second soul‘? That’s exactly what’s happening – your second soul is suffering and you’re experiencing an identity crisis. When we learn a different language, we build an identity. To become fluent, we must intentionally develop our English personas.
That’s why we feel different.
Every language has its own ‚vibe‘. German is strict, Italian is musical, French is elegant, Czech is direct and English is often perceived as extroverted or agreeable.
According to research, 65% of multilingual people feel like a different person when they switch languages.
But why? Neuroscience shows that our native language is tied to the amygdala (the centre of fear in our brains) because we learn it during our most emotional years. A second language is often processed more in the prefrontal cortex (the logical centre), which is why people often feel more rational, cool-headed or bold in English. They are literally one step removed from the raw emotional weight of their native language.
If you only learn grammar and vocabulary, you become a translator. If you develop an identity, you become a speaker. The second personality you are developing needs its own space, jokes, habits and reactions that are independent of your native language patterns.
To me, being a different person in English is a superpower, not a loss of self or an annoyance. If we look at studying English from this perspective — training a new ‚me‘ — doesn’t it feel a bit different?
